Published: Thursday, 18th March, 2010 7:00am

New sterilisation guidelines a 'kick in the teeth,' says dentist

by Bryan Copland

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A HADDINGTON dentist says pressure by the Scottish Government on surgeries to create sterilisation rooms has been a "kick in the teeth" to county practices.

Gordon Andrews, of Sidegate Dental Practice, told the Courier that there was now less space for new patients due to requirements from the government, which state that every surgery in the county has to sterilise instruments in a separate area from where dental procedures take place.

The Sidegate practice recently took on new NHS patients for the first time in about five years. It was one of only two surgeries in the county open for new registrations.

But a shortage of staff has left many county residents still unregistered, with the nearest available spaces as far away as Portobello or Bonnyrigg.

Mr Andrews, who has worked at the practice for nearly 25 years, said: "The Scottish Government said that the sterilisation of instruments had to be done in a separate room, so we had to rebuild it to put the decontamination part in.

"One practice (in Midlothian) closed down because a dentist, who was retiring, didn't want to spend thousands of pounds altering the practice which he wouldn't get back.

"The Government decided it would be a precaution to do this with no evidence whatsoever. As yet they've not been able to come up with any evidence.

"The directives they gave said that the rooms had to be in use by November last year, and then come December they said they'd extended the time. So that's a kick in the teeth to those who complied with the regulations. A lot of other practices don't have the room."

Sidegate took on "hundreds" of new patients, and is actively seeking a new dentist which would allow more people to register, Mr Andrews added.

The practice fitted a third surgery during its alterations last year, but can't use it yet because it only has two dentists.

Colwyn Jones, consultant in dental public health at NHS Lothian, said NHS dentist availability was being monitored.

"The availability of NHS dentists taking on patients varies from week to week and we regularly monitor the situation and update our dental enquiry line accordingly," he explained.

"We know that some people prefer the convenience of registering with a dentist near to where they work and there are a large number of practices in the east of Edinburgh who will also register East Lothian residents.

"Anyone requiring urgent dental care can access treatment at the Chalmers Dental Centre in Edinburgh or the dental centre in Bonnyrigg."