Work begins on new dental unit

Mascott Construction Ltd. has been appointed as the contractor.

The new £1.2million Department will include four orthodontic chairs and two special care dentistry rooms and will be located at the front of Antrim Area Hospital site.

It will bring together the Orthodontics Department and the Special Care Dentistry and Oral/Maxillofacial services for the first time.

Having both departments co-located will improve the service for patients who have highly complex oral needs and require specialist skills.

Existing services will relocate from Braid Valley Hospital in Ballymena and Antrim Hospital Outpatients Department to the new Department.

It is anticipated that the new Hospital Dentistry Department will be completed by January 2015 and will open by March 2015.

Rebecca Getty, Assistant Director of Acute Services with the Northern Trust, said: “This much needed facility will replace out-dated accommodation and dramatically improve the provision of dental care services to people living in the Northern Trust area”.

She continued: “By providing services in one building the patient’s experience will be much improved with closer working with specialist teams and sharing of information. The new build will include the latest equipment to ensure patients receive the treatment and care we would expect for our familiar and ourselves.”

The Trust would like to take this opportunity to apologise for any disruption patients, visitors and staff may experience while on the Antrim Area Hospital site.