Riverdale Healthcare was established in 2018, acquiring Alpha Dental Group which has a long-standing relationship with Sub-Zero Climate Control, who have installed and maintained air conditioning through the dental practice network. Through discussions with Craig Brooke, managing director of Sub-Zero, Riverdale Healthcare took the step of updating two of its practices with enhanced air conditioning and plan to expand this throughout their dental network.
Ian Gordon, dental director of Riverdale Healthcare explained: “When the pandemic hit in 2020, I was invited to a webinar about how Korea was finding that air filtration and air purification was perhaps contributing to keep the country’s cases lower than elsewhere in the world. Early on during the first lockdown in the UK, advice was to not use air conditioning, which made everything very uncomfortable as we were working for long periods wearing all the extra PPE and with the soaring temperatures hitting record levels last summer. It therefore seemed logical to me to have air conditioning with some kind of filtration built into the units, so I was really interested in this idea.”
Sub Zero came to the rescue by recommending the Etherea range of air conditioners which come with Panasonic’s proven nanoe X technology built in. Recent, independent testing shows that nanoe X can inhibit certain types of bacteria and viruses, meaning the new air conditioning system can help protect patients and staff alike whilst in the dentist practice.
Air conditioning distributor AMP worked with Sub-Zero Climate Control on this project. Leanne Mace, Senior sales Engineer at AMP, provided support and information to Mr Brooke and the team, as Ms Mace noted: “I have worked with Craig at Sub Zero for many years and one characteristic that has always stood out is his interest and enthusiasm to embrace new technologies so that he can always put forward the most appropriate solution for his customers. I was pleased to be able to assist in supplying Panasonic’s test data and research information for Craig to get a true understanding of the possibilities it offers his customers.”
Mr Brooke added: “After a lot of research we knew that nanoe X would be the right fit for Riverdale and that Ian would appreciate the technology behind it. Both Ian and I looked into the research and test results carried out for nanoe X technology and were both happy with the inhibitory findings of the results and felt it could only be a positive investment for Riverdale.
Everyone has faced huge changes and challenges in the last 12 months, particularly the dental sector. We have always tried to be innovative as a company and be in a position to offer the best solutions to our customers to suit their needs and we feel we have achieved this by using Panasonic nanoe X technology.
As a company we are very proud to have worked alongside Ian and his team at Riverdale to help create a safer environment for patients to receive the treatment they need, plus to provide staff with peace of mind that they are working in a safe environment every single day.”
Mr Gordon further commented: “Patients are very aware of the requirement for ventilation and put a high degree of trust in us as practitioners and want reassurance for safe measures in our surgeries. When we looked at the findings of the tests, why wouldn’t we add this technology – we can add it to our inspections and show our customers that we are trying to mitigate the spread of any airborne virus or respiratory infections within the surgery. There is a slight increase in cost but we believe the cost mitigates the risks. Air-conditioning is part of a wider investment in meeting ventilation requirements for dental surgeries in a post-Covid world – so using air conditioning which is an adjunct to cleaner air is a logical step.”