I hope this message finds you well. Since the start of COVID-19, I decided to keep my office open to treat emergency patients. I am happy to announce that my office is open treat all patients for all services. While many things have changed, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to your safety.
Infection control has always been a top priority for our practice and you may have seen this during your visits to our office. Our infection control processes are made so that when you receive care, it’s both safe and comfortable.
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.
You may see some changes when it is time for your next appointment. We made these changes to help protect our patients and staff. For example:
Our office will communicate with you beforehand to ask some screening questions. You’ll be asked those same questions again the day of your appointment. We will send you a check-up form that we kindly ask be completed the day you receive it. As an extra precaution we are only permitting patients in our office who have appointments and have completed a check-up form.
We have hand sanitizer in each room of our office, including the reception area for you to use as needed. We will take your temperature and ask you to wash your hands once you arrive. We have HEPA filter air purifiers with UV-C sanitation ability throughout our office, and use a new suctioning tool during procedures that reduces the spread of aerosols. Lastly, we use UV light to eliminate germs in each of our rooms after a procedure is completed.
You may see that our waiting room will no longer offer magazines, children’s toys and so forth, since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect.
Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.
We will do our best to allow greater time between patients to reduce waiting times for you, as well as to reduce the number of patients in the reception area at any one time.
My office manager and I made a video at the start of COVID-19 that explains our new check in protocols, please view the video below. We look forward to seeing you again and are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we take to keep you, and every patient, safe in our practice.
If you are a returning patient reading this, I thank you for being our patient and if you are a new patient, welcome. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming back our patients, neighbors and friends.
Sincerely,
Dr. Shirley