Photograph: Dr Brian Stevenson (front left) and Professor Grant McIntyre (front right) Joint Clinical Directors of Dundee Dental Hospital with dental staff in the Dental Hospital
Dental patients across Tayside are set to benefit from an extensive refurbishment of Dundee Dental Hospital and School.
The £2m refurbishment of the Dundee Dental Hospital and School saw the departments of Oral Surgery, Restorative Dentistry and Integrated Oral Care stripped right back to basics before being fully refurbished. The majority of the project was covered by Scottish Government COVID-19 funding, with the remainder funded by NHS Tayside.
The clinical areas have benefited from the installation of 53 new dental chairs and units which will be used to treat patients and for undergraduate teaching and postgraduate training. The areas have also had further COVID-19 safety measures installed including upgrades to physical screens, room dividers and improved ventilation.
In addition, additional bespoke specialist dental pods have been installed across the hospital to support the delivery of dental services under the challenging conditions of COVID-19. The innovative self-contained pods have their own individual air filtering systems which means that aerosol generating dental procedures can be undertaken safely in these carefully controlled environments.
The extra dental pods enable undergraduate teaching and postgraduate training to continue with students being able to deliver more practical patient-facing clinical activity which is an integral part of their dental degree.
NHS Tayside Chief Executive Grant Archibald, said, “The refurbishment of the Dental Hospital is a significant investment in dental services and will benefit the people of Tayside and North East Fife now and into the future.
“Importantly, the Dental Hospital and School is providing the next generation of dentists with modern first class teaching facilities, enabling dental students to continue their training.”
Dr Brian Stevenson, Joint Clinical Director of Dundee Dental Hospital, said, “The extensive refurbishment of the specialist clinical departments means that patients will have their dental treatment delivered in bright, new and improved specialist areas. Having additional pods allows the dental teams to treat many more patients as well as allowing more complex procedures to take place safely.
“The refurbishment has been a real team effort to complete and it has been achieved against the backdrop of the restrictions and impact of COVID-19.”
The final part of the complex refurbishment took three months to complete and despite the challenges of COVID, the project finished on schedule. It involved of a range of staff from many different departments working across NHS Tayside including finance, procurement, estates, property, infection prevention and control, medical physics, digital, clinical and nursing teams and Dundee Dental Hospital administration teams.