Letters to the Editor

We are Oral and Maxillofacial (OMFS) Dental Core Trainees who proudly volunteered to work on the COVID-19 medical wards. Having worked over 7 months in OMFS and in general dental practice the year prior, we had already embarked upon a steep learning curve kissing crown preps goodbye and trading it in for dealing with head and neck cancer patients. Being entrusted with a horcrux in the form of a bleep meant that we were summoned at any hour for all manner of issue, be it trauma or infections. Seeing gross facial swellings and not panicking was the new norm and assessing new imaging, such as facial CTs and OM views, on top of the standard OPT was now in our armamentarium. No laceration was any match for our suturing skills.

As we were settling into life as a DCT, our job role dramatically changed by April 2020 and we were redeployed to carry out the role similar to that of a Junior Doctor on the medical wards (Figure 1). Happy quickly to adapt as much as possible, we did what we could to support the demand in our new environment. Like us, many other individuals were required to work outside of their specialist roles due to the high demand.