Roscrea-based Dr Pádraig Ó Reachtagáin is kitting out his van to be able to carry out emergency extractions, but has been struggling to secure insurance coverage.
An estimated 200,000 dental extractions are carried out in Ireland every year, but most dental practices are currently closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dr Ó Reachtagáin insists the mobile unit can be maintained as a sterile working environment:
“If I put a dental chair inside in the van, that’s really all I need to do the extraction. And as for the patient, before the patient comes in, I can spray the whole inside of the van with a disinfectant that kills the bugs – chairs, walls, ceilings, floors, the whole lot.
“And the beauty of it is that if the doors are closed, it has to be a sealed environment. So we have this antiseptic vapour disinfecting the whole of the inside of the vehicle until the next patient.”
