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Doha: Following the directive by the Ministry of Public Health, Primary Health Care Corporation’s (PHCC) dental services has restricted patient appointments to reduce the risk of spreading the COVID-19.
PHCC has limited it’s dental services to urgent services across health centres temporarily.
To be seen at the health centre, a patient must have one or more of the following conditions: Severe toothache pain (not just a little pain), infection or a substantial risk of it, trauma (such as a broken tooth).
Patients requiring PHCC services dental services can now dial 16000 and choose the PHCC option, they will then be routed to a PHCC Community Call Centre offering remote consultations for patients requiring both routine and urgent care dental services. The community call centre operates seven days a week from 7am to 11pm. Clients accessing this service can expect a video or telephone consultation with a dentist that will provide them with advice and offer appointments if this is required. In addition, the service will assess those patients with routine conditions providing guidance.
PHCC has advised that any patient feeling sick before coming to see a dentist, for instance, if they have a fever, cough, shortness of breath and a sore throat, its essential to call the COVID-19 hotline #16000 first for advice on how to proceed.
Also to reduce the need to see a dentist is to keep good oral hygiene, brush your teeth twice a day with toothpaste that contains fluoride, gargle frequently with an antiseptic mouthwash or simply rinse mouth with salt water, which is a natural and cost-effective way to keep the mouth clean.
