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Keeping You Safe During COVID-19

NZ is back on alert

We recognise the uncertainty that coronavirus COVID-19 is causing globally. With the Alert Level 3 lockdown in Auckland, Northland and parts of the Waikato region and Alert Level 2 around the rest of New Zealand, we want to take a moment to let you know what we are doing to keep you safe while still providing you exceptional dental care.

Auckland, Waikato & Northland practices are temporarily closed

Our Auckland & Waikato practices are temporarily closed at Alert Level 3, with limited practices open for emergency treatment. These temporary practice closures include those located in all of Auckland, Northland and any practices in Raglan, Te Kauwhata, Huntly, Ngāruawāhia, Hamilton City and surrounding areas and the Waitomo District, including Te Kuiti, Waipa and Ōtorohanga districts. If you had an appointment with us, you don’t need to call us to cancel, we will contact you when we re-open.

Emergency treatment during Alert Level 3

We understand that this is a difficult time and we're here to help. We’ve opened some of our practices to provide emergency treatment until we’re able to safely re-open again. If you're in Auckland or Hamilton and need emergency dental treatment or relief of pain, please call us on 0508 625 368 and we will be able to advise you on the most appropriate action. Emergency line operating hours are 8.00 am till 5.00 pm, Monday - Saturday.

All other practices throughout New Zealand are open

Our practices remain open at Alert Level 2, throughout the rest of New Zealand. We will continue to screen patients, schedule appointments appropriately, maintain a contact register for contact tracing, wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) and meet the Infection Control & Prevention Standards, as guided by the Dental Council of New Zealand (DCNZ). As your good health guardians, we’ve got you covered.

Please remember, you must wear a mask or face covering when arriving at your appointment and scan in using the QR Code in the NZ COVID Tracer App, as per Government guidelines.

Keeping you safe during COVID-19

Dentistry may be changing, but one thing that won’t is our commitment to the health and safety of our patients and our teams. We have always maintained a high level of best-practice safety protocols, even before COVID-19.

Screening patients before appointments

To help keep everyone safe, we will be in touch to ask you a series of triage questions before your appointment. Please consider the questions below:

    • Do you have a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19?
    • Are you a probable COVID-19 case?
    • Are you required to self-isolate and/or waiting for COVID-19 test results?
    • Do you have new or worsening respiratory symptoms including one of the following:
      • new or worsening cough
      • sneezing and runny nose
      • sore throat
      • fever
      • temporary loss of smell or altered sense of taste
      • shortness of breath?
    • Do you have any of the less common symptoms, where there is no other likely diagnosis, such as:
      • Diarrhoea
      • headache
      • muscle aches
      • nausea
      • vomiting
      • malaise
      • chest pain
      • abdominal pain
      • joint pain or confusion/irritability
    • In the 14 days before the start of your symptoms have you:
      • had close contact with someone who is a probable or confirmed COVID-19 case?
      • attended a current location of interest?
      • travelled internationally (excluding travel by air from a country/area with which New Zealand has quarantine-free travel (QFT))?
      • had direct contact with someone who has travelled overseas (excluding travel by air from a QFT country/area). This includes:
        • border staff
        • quarantine and isolation facility staff
        • international aircraft and shipping vessel crew, except those who have travelled exclusively between New Zealand and QFT destinations?
      • exited an MIQ facility (excluding recovered COVID-19 cases)?
      • worked on an international aircraft or shipping vessel (excluding aircraft from a QFT country/area)?
      • cleaned at an international airport or maritime port in areas/conveniences visited by international arrivals (excluding areas/conveniences for travellers by air from a QFT country/area)?
      • worked in cold storage areas of facilities that receive imported chilled and frozen goods directly from an international or maritime port?
      • travelled from an area with an evolving community outbreak (including in New Zealand and any other country/area with which New Zealand has QFT)? (travel from an area with Alert level 3 or 4 restrictions).
      • Are you aged 70 or over?
      • Are you immuno-suppressed?
      • Do you have any pre-existing medical conditions, include respiratory conditions, like COPD or asthma?

If you have an appointment booked and you answered YES to any of the above, please call us to talk through your options. We may also call you to confirm your answers to these questions again, just prior to your appointment, in case anything has changed for you. We do appreciate your support and understanding as we unite with you against COVID-19.

Have questions?

Special precautions are taken to ensure your safety at all alert levels. Depending on the alert level, these may include additional personal protective equipment (PPE) and special cleaning and decontamination procedures. While we already had a high level of safety protocols before COVID-19, we have also added increased hand hygiene measures for patients and our team. Sterilisation of instruments after use occurs as usual, meeting the DCNZ’s  Infection Prevention & Control Standards.

We have always used the recommended PPE for dental treatment. In addition, we have trained our teams regarding any additional PPE required for COVID-19, to keep our patients and our teams safe. Our clinicians will be wearing appropriate PPE where required, including surgical, impervious disposal gowns, appropriate masks, and headcovers.

Our teams follow strict processes when they prepare to see a patient:

  • If an N95 mask is fitted, checks for appropriate seals are carried out
  • PPE is donned in a clean area separate from the treatment area
  • PPE is single-use only and is changed immediately after each patient, or following completion of a specific dental procedure
  • Used PPE is disposed of following strict hazardous waste or clinical waste guidelines

Your dentist will recommend a treatment option best suited to you and your budget and will give you an estimate of the price and payment options during your appointment. We accept a wide range of payment methods and have plenty of flexible pay later finance options including Afterpay and 18 Months Interest Free With Q. Right now, we also have 24 Months Interest Free With Q. If your Lumino practice offers the Lumino Dental Plan, it’s a great way to save money all year round and when you need dental treatments, for less than $1* a day. Check out our 3 Smart Ways to Pay to get started.

*Lumino Dental Plan terms and conditions apply.

If you had an appointment booked with us during this time,  you don't need to worry about calling us to cancel it.  We will get in touch with you to rebook your appointment.

We get it. We’re New Zealand’s largest group of dentists so we’ve seen more scared patients than any other dental practice in the country. We know that you already be anxious about visiting the dentist, let alone during these challenging times. Our gentle and compassionate dentists understand how you feel – we’re in this together! We can assure you that our dental practices have always provided a safe environment for dental care – even more so now. We take our guidance from our industry bodies and do everything we can to take all precautions necessary to keep you safe. If you’re anxious or worried, the best thing to do is let us know how you feel. Making sure you feel comfortable is part of our job.