As we re-open our doors and welcome our patients, we do so with full awareness that our community has gone through a lot as we battle COVID-19. We remain mindful that we may all be in different places with our comfort level as we venture out. Please know we respect everyone’s position and while many things have changed within our office, our commitment to your health and well-being remains our top priority.
Infection control has always been fundamental to our practice, and I want to take a moment to share some of our protocols. Our office follows infection control recommendations made by the American Dental Association (ADA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). We closely follow these agencies and remain current on any new rules or guidance that may be issued. These practices are numerous and include heat sterilization of all instruments, wiping down all surfaces with bacteria and virus destroying solution and utilization of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) in addition to publishing relevant notifications to patients.
We are currently reaching out to patients to reschedule canceled appointments due to the shelter-in-place. We are additionally reaching out to patients who have future appointments as we may need to modify your appointment time to accommodate our new protocols. These changes have been implemented to help protect you and our team. The following are some of the changes we have made:
- Our office will communicate with you beforehand to ask some screening questions. You will be asked those same questions again when you are in the office.
- Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients in addition to disinfecting all common areas, door handles, surfaces, etc. in between patients. This will result in fewer appointments during the day. To ensure our patients are not inconvenienced and receive timely care, we will be extending our office hours.
- We request that when you arrive for your appointment, you call us from your vehicle so we can meet you and take you straight back to our disinfected rooms.
- As you walk back to our treatment rooms, we will request that you stop by our hand sanitizing station.
- We will take your temperature.
- We are all wearing masks throughout the office. We request that you arrive with a mask as well. If you do not have a mask, one will be provided when you enter the office.
- We use additional PPE, including face shields, hair coverings, N95 masks, designated footwear and gowns during treatment.
- We have increased the time between patients to ensure adequate time for disinfection and sterilization of our treatment areas.
- Each room has been equipped with a medical grade air purifier.
- Each room is also equipped with a state-of-the-art aerosol vacuum/air purifier which minimizes airborne contaminants. This oral suction system utilizes a 4 layer filtration methodology in addition to an ultraviolet system.
- We will also be utilizing an Isolite evacuation system as much as possible during patient treatment to minimize the amount of aerosols leaving the area around the patient’s mouth. This is an intra-oral suction device that is placed in the patient’s mouth.
We look forward to seeing you, and we understand your concerns around COVID-19 and will gladly answer any questions you have. To make an appointment, please call our office at (530) 587-9560.