About The Practice
Our community has been through a lot over the last few months, and all of us are looking forward to resuming our normal habits and routines. While many things have changed, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to you and your health and safety. Infection control has always been the top priority for our practice, which you may have seen during your visits to our office. Our infection control processes are made so that it’s both safe and comfortable when you receive care. We want to tell you about the infection control procedures we follow in our practice to keep patients and staff safe.
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 follow the activities of these agencies so that we are up-to-date on any new rulings or guidance that may be issued.
We have implemented the following changes for dental appointments. We made these changes to help protect our patients and staff:
Please remain in your car once you arrive in the parking lot and then call us so that we can assess your temperature. If your temperature is at or above 100.4° F, we will reschedule your appointment as a precaution.
If a family member is accompanying you, they must remain in the car. However, all minors can be accompanied by one parent/guardian.
As a result, you can minimize contact with others, bypass the reception area, and go directly to your treatment room.
Before sitting on the dental chair, you will be asked to use an oral pre-rinse for at least 30 seconds.
The beautiful smiles of our clinical team – dentists, hygienists, and assistants – will be protected behind double-masking at all times.
The staff will have their temperature checked each morning, and they will be asked the same screening questions we ask our patients at the beginning of each workday.
Special types of equipment such as Rubberdam, Isolite, and HVE systems are utilized to limit aerosols.
Even though we are using different equipment that helps with reducing the aerosols, each operatory room won’t be used for 3 hours after finishing a procedure. Our staff will disinfect the room once the procedure is done and once again after the 3 hours have passed.
Minimizing cross-contamination is an important part of our plan. We will ask you to dispose of any outside gloves before you enter. You will be asked to wear a mask that we will provide for you when you enter the building.
Our staff will ask you some pre-screening questions when we confirm your appointment and again when you arrive on the premises. You will receive the link to the screening form through email or text. Please fill out and submit the form the day before your appointment.
We have a hand sanitizer that we will ask you to use when you enter the office. You will also find some in each operatory room and other places in the office for you to use as needed.
Every day, the staff must change their clothes upon entering the office in the morning and before leaving for the day, every day.
This is standard procedure at all times, and nothing has changed. Anything that goes near your mouth is heat and pressure cleaned between every use.
Each member of our team has completed additional awareness and prevention programs to enhance their knowledge and preparedness.
Appointments will be managed to maintain social distancing between patients. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.
We will do our best to keep more time between patients to reduce your waiting time and reduce the number of patients in the reception area at any one time.
Two masks are not enough. Our clinical team will protect themselves and you by using FDA Approved PET face shields.
Our air has never been cleaner. Each operatory room is equipped with a High level 4 stage HEPA filter, UV-C light air purifiers that kill bacteria, mold, and viruses.
We are super clean as we thoroughly wipe, sanitize, and disinfect all instruments, equipment, and surfaces in each operatory after every patient.
Our waiting room will no longer have magazines, informational pamphlets, coffee stations, water bottles, and so forth since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect.
Along with cleaning and sanitizing during the day, we take things to another level at night with a thorough top-to-bottom scrub down.
