Our COVID-19 safety tariff
Our COVID-19 safety tariff
At Bupa Dental Care, the health, wellbeing and safety of our patients, their families and our people are our priority and always will be. In line with Public Health England Operating Procedures (which cover all UK nations), dentists must continue to take enhanced safety measures in the ongoing pandemic.
Dentistry has more close contact and is higher risk than other industries. As the dentist is working inside your mouth and COVID-19 is most likely transmitted via tiny droplets from your nose and mouth, dental staff must wear enhanced PPE for certain treatments.
We’ve taken the decision to charge a safety tariff for some private appointments, rather than include it in the price of your treatment. This is because we believe the additional safety requirements mandated by Public Health England will be removed and we want to eliminate this cost for our patients when it’s no longer required.
We want to assure you that Bupa does not make a profit from this tariff. The entire tariff goes towards the increased cost of additional PPE and cleaning in practice. We are committed to keeping the tariff to a minimum and will remove it when we can. We hope you understand that to keep our practices open and to be able to provide you with COVID-safe dental treatment, we must ensure that we follow all guidelines.
COVID-19 safety tariff costs
Our COVID-19 safety tariff is £10. The safety tariff is charged for private appointments that require your dentist to take additional safety measures. Please speak to your practice for more information.
Frequently asked questions
We understand you may have questions about our COVID-19 safety tariff, so we’ve put together the answers to some of the most commonly asked questions, relevant to both existing and new-to-Bupa patients who may be looking for further information.
For England and Wales: The safety tariff is only charged for private appointments where our dental teams need to take additional safety measures.
If a patient has a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection and needs a procedure which generates an aerosol (such as fillings, crowns, bridges, a limited number of orthodontic procedures and some hygiene treatment) the tariff will be charged.
Please speak to your practice team for more information. We will do our best to reschedule appointments until your isolation period has ended or you have a negative test result.
Scotland and Northern Ireland: The COVID-19 safety tariff is chargeable to all private appointments which have aerosol generating procedures, including most fillings, crowns and bridges, teeth whitening, some orthodontic procedures and some hygiene treatments.
There are still certain situations in which dental teams must continue to take additional safety measures in the ongoing pandemic, for example wearing extra personal protective equipment (PPE), such as FFP3 face masks and surgical gowns and undertaking more cleaning between patients.
Our COVID-19 safety tariff is in place to keep our patients and people safe. We aren’t making a profit from this tariff. The entire tariff goes towards the increased cost of PPE as well as the additional cleaning in practice that’s required by Public Health England.
We’ve taken the decision to charge a separate tariff rather than include it in the price of treatments. We believe the additional safety measures put in place by the Government during the pandemic will be removed and when this happens, we’ll remove our safety tariff.
We regularly review the tariff and are committed to keeping costs to a minimum. We have already reduced the cost of the tariff three times since it was introduced and have removed the tariff for most appointments.
When the additional safety measures put in place by the Government during the pandemic are removed for dental practices, we’ll remove this cost for patients.
We aren’t making a profit from this tariff. The entire tariff goes towards the increased cost of PPE as well as the additional cleaning in practice that’s required by Public Health England.
Dentistry has more close contact and is higher risk than other industries. As the dentist is working inside your mouth and COVID-19 is most likely transmitted via respiratory droplets, dental staff must wear enhanced PPE and undertake additional cleaning requirements for certain appointments, which incurs additional costs. We want you to be safe. With these safety measures in place, there’s nothing to worry about.
You may need to pay the safety tariff for certain appointments. This is not covered by your subscription payment plan, so I’m afraid we need to ask you to pay separately for this when you attend your appointment. Please speak to your practice team for more information.
Your dental insurance covers certain treatments and services, but the safety tariff may not be covered. You will need to check with your insurer if it’s included in your benefit limits.
We’re pleased to let you know that for Bupa Dental Insurance customers, we’re covering the cost of PPE for treatment up to benefit limits. This means we will pay for the cost of treatment and the additional PPE costs out of the relevant treatment benefit if it is within benefit limits. For more information, please contact the Insurance team on 0800 237 777.
We’re afraid not. The safety tariff isn’t just for your mask, it’s for the increased cost and additional PPE dental staff must wear, as well as additional cleaning.
The COVID-19 safety tariff is applicable to all and does not differ for under 18s. The enhanced levels of PPE are treatment specific and do not differ by the age of patient.
Yes, anyone coming into one of our dental settings will be required to still wear a face mask, unless exempt, to help protect our patients and colleagues from the potential risk of COVID-19. This is in line with government’s guidelines for healthcare settings, which Bupa Dental Care is obliged to follow.
^ We may record or monitor our calls.
Bupa Dental Care is a trading name of Oasis Dental Care Limited. Registered in England and Wales No: 00478127. Registered office: Bupa Dental Care, Vantage Office Park, Old Gloucester Road, Hambrook, Bristol, United Kingdom BS16 1GW.
Oasis Dental Care Limited has a number of trading names including Bupa Dental Care. For a list of all our different trading names please follow this link.
