Dear Patients and Future Patients:
We hope this message finds you and your loved ones in good health. While the COVID-19 pandemic has created a lot of uncertainty in the past few months, my team and I have remained certain of one thing — our commitment as healthcare providers to the safety and health of our patients, our team and our community.
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 do this to make sure that our infection control procedures are current and adhere to or even surpass their recommendations.
While our infection control protocols have always surpassed standard regulations, we have implemented these additional measures to open our office safely and combat the current pandemic:
3) Please call us with your cell phone on arrival — we are coordinating traffic flow in the office.
4) When possible, please wait in your car instead of the waiting room, until called to come into the office. We are staggering appointments to encourage social distancing, minimizing patient exposure to other people in the waiting room.
5) We will no longer offer magazines, children’s toys or blankets — these items are difficult to clean and disinfect.
6) When possible, patients are to come to their appointments alone, or with only one guardian.
7) We are using a no-contact thermometer to take the temperature of every patient. Anyone with symptoms is asked to return home and check with their medical provider. We also ask patients to call us if they have any symptoms or diagnosis of COVID-19 within the two weeks after their dental appointment. Patients will be asked to wash their hands and use a pre-procedural hydrogen peroxide rinse before being seated in the dental chair.
8) We also respectfully request that people follow social distancing when possible.
9) We will be asking a series of screening questions over the phone before patients come into their appointment, and we will repeat the questions once the patient is in the office. We will be communicating with patients over the phone as much as possible to limit physical exposure.
10) We respectfully ask you to reschedule your appointment if you or anyone in your household has been sick in the past two weeks.
11) We are taking the temperature of every team member daily before starting work. Anyone with symptoms is asked to stay home and monitor symptoms for the next 14 days.
12) High evacuation suction and dental dams will be used as much as possible to reduce dental aerosols. High evacuation suction use has been found to drastically reduce dental aerosols.
13) We added a humidifier, and medical-grade HEPA air purifiers have been added throughout the office, filtering and turning over the entire office’s air multiple times an hour.
14) As per usual, exposed surfaces are sprayed and wiped down between patients with medical-grade disinfectants.
15) Additional personal protective equipment for the team — face shields, respirators, etc.
We value your trust and are happy to answer any questions you may have regarding these new measures. We appreciate your patience and understanding and look forward to seeing everyone!
Regards,
Carolyn Yu, DDS and Team
