We wanted to keep you abreast of the ways that we are working to keeping our patients and staff safe and the many safeguards that are currently in place:
- Our office has closed all public spaces such as our waiting room, public bathroom and brushing sinks. Patient vehicles are now the waiting room and we ask all patients to text us upon arrival and we will text you when it is safe to enter the clinic.
- Only the patient is allowed into the clinic for their appointment (except in extreme situations), we will walk them back to your vehicle post-visit to go over appointment and treatment details.
- Social distancing is followed at all times-our office has adopted a one-way flow with directional arrows indicating a safe migration through the clinic. Our dental operatories are spaced 6 or more feet apart and are divided by plexiglass barriers.
- All patients must wear a mask upon entering and exiting, taking them off only when instructed and seated in the operatory, replacing them before leaving the chair.
- A health history and temperature are taken on all staff and patients prior to their admittance to the clinic.
- While always practiced by our staff, increased hand sanitation is required of all patients.
- All staff is wearing appropriate-level PPE to their position. Our front desk staff wears masks, are seated behind plexiglass barriers and have severely limited contact with patients. Most scheduling or financial interactions are done remotely via text/email. Our clinical staff wears procedural appropriate masks, face shields, gowns/jackets with attention to scope of procedure.
- Any use of hand piece is done so with high speed evacuation-fortunately in orthodontics our hand pieces are low speed and do not use water or pressurized air-further limiting aerosol production.
- Aerosol producing procedures are limited to certain areas of the office and are mitigated with high speed evacuation.
- Virtual visits have been implemented where appropriate in order to limit the number of patients being seen in the office each day.
- Infection Control has always been a priority and we were fortunate that in February 2020 we completed our annual training with a two-day seminar in Sterilization, Infection Prevention & OSHA Safety for Dental Professionals with safety consultant, Jackie Dorst. Our annual re-training proved to be significantly relevant to our response and clinical preparedness for the Covid-19 pandemic.
- All surfaces are cleaned after touching and frequently throughout the day with the highest-level of recommended disinfectants.
- All instruments are disinfected at the highest-rated sterilization standards. In fact, all of our sterilizers have been updated in the last year as part of our annual Facilities Management Plan and overall-commitment to quality in infection control.
We hope that we have alleviated any of your concerns regarding visiting our office. Please feel free to contact us should you have any further questions or concerns. We remain dedicated to the overall health and well-being of our orthodontic family!