Sir, as bright idealistic dental students, my friends and I often pictured what it would be like starting our careers in dentistry. Coming up to the end of October, almost two months of VT is over and our pandemic-ridden reality has come with continuous challenges, not least that the unremarkable procedure of a scale and polish now requires an outfit similar to a hazmat suit.

Two months of endless emergency appointments have left me with more experience in extracting teeth than the past four years of dental school. Although I am very grateful to gain this experience, it is glaringly obvious and bleak to see the effects of closing dental practices. Currently, the message is realistic dentistry: placing repetitive temporary fillings with quietly stirring caries below is not the type of dentistry we as a profession are taught. Seeing patients lose teeth that could have been saved in a parallel universe without coronavirus is sad to witness.

As newly qualified dentists of 2020, we lack the standard transition into busy general practice and are slowly coming to terms with the considerable experience we will miss out on. It is still unknown how NHS dentistry will resume and what form it will take while we sit and endure this storm of uncertainty. And, as with all storms, one should be concerned about the damage left in its wake.