As per latest directive from the Chief Medical Officer of Health, dentists are now permitted to provide in-person care for all deferred, non-essential, and elective services in addition to emergency and urgent care.
We have been following the evolving guidelines from our governing body, RCDSO and have spent the past several weeks preparing our clinic for our staff and patients’ safe return to our clinic.
We are excited to announce that our office is now open for regular dental care.
As a dental office, we already have a very robust infection control protocol in place meant to combat a myriad of infectious diseases, but given the nature of COVID-19, we’ve implemented several additions to these protocols to better protect our patients and our team.
Our Office
We have installed sneeze guard physical barriers at the receptions desk to reduce the spread of droplets.
Central HVAC system filtration has been upgraded featuring high performing electrostatic technology that proactively captures dust, germs, viruses and allergens in the air.
Supplementary HEPA Air filtration and purification units capable of capturing up to 99.97% of microscopic particles have been installed in the operatory rooms.
We will continuously disinfect commonly touched areas and surfaces such as doorknobs, countertops, pens, chairs, etc. at high frequency (anything someone might touch in the office space all the way from the front desk to the operatory rooms).
The number of patients in the office will be limited with provisioning extended time between appointments to allow patient physical distancing and also to leave extra time for air filtration and disinfection of the operatory rooms.
We have removed all magazines, communal refreshments, and the treasure chest from the front office. Bottled water and prizes will still be available upon request.
Our Patients
If you are not feeling well or have been in large groups of 5 or more in the past 7 days, we kindly ask that you reschedule your appointment.
We will heavily screen patients over the phone, and again when they present to their appointment. We will take temperatures on everyone upon arrival and ask patients to sign a waiver confirming that they are symptom free.
For the immediate future, we will not use our waiting room for patients or their families. We will utilize a “virtual waiting room” to minimize patient to patient contact. Patients will be asked to call our office when they arrive for their appointment, but remain in their car or outside until we call them to come in. A member of our team will greet them at the door and bring them straight back for screening and their appointment.
We ask that patients avoid bringing friends and family with them to their appointment as they will be asked to stay outside or in the car. Exceptions will be made for children or those with special needs, and those attending the appointment with them will also be required to go through the screening process.
Upon entering our clinic, patients will be provided with a mask, and will be asked to use the readily available hand sanitizer.
Patients will be provided with a pre-treatment rinse prior to any aerosol generating procedure. This treatment has been proven to be effective at eliminating bacteria and viruses for a short time, so even if a patient does happen to be a silent carrier of the virus, this will significantly decrease the viral load in their mouth and the environment.
Our Team
All our team members have been trained on the latest practices and procedures for minimizing transmission of the virus.
All our team members will wear additional personal protective equipment (PPE) relevant to their operation within the office.
All our team members will be screened and monitored daily for temperature and any symptoms. Our team members are asked to stay home if they are not feeling well.
During this time, things may seem different in our dental office just as they are in our regular lives. Protective protocols will continue to evolve as the world learns more about this virus and how to keep everyone safe. Rest assured that we will stay up to date with all new developments and will implement all recommended protocols designed to keep our patients and our team safe while here in our clinic.
We have all missed our patients and are very excited to see everyone back at the office. We truly appreciate your trust and loyalty and hope to return with high quality care we love to provide to you and your family.