COVID-19 Precautions at the Dental Office

As patients return to dental offices, we know there is curiosity about what steps are being taken to protect your health and prevent the transmission of coronavirus. There are a number of science-backed steps our staff is taking to help limit the spread of COVID-19. These include:

• Increased personal protective equipment, including masks, face shields, goggles and surgical gowns, or long-sleeved lab coats and hair coverings. Handwashing and sanitizing between patients has always been part of our universal precautions.
• Increased cleaning protocols. This includes using disinfectants known to kill the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 and other viruses and removing high-touch items in common areas including magazines, brochures and pens. Interior doors are left open to prevent touching of door handles when possible. We’ve also increased the number of times common area counters and restrooms are cleaned and sanitized. You’ll see hand sanitizer in various places around the office.  You may be asked to wash or sanitize your hands before being seated for your appointment. You’ll also notice air purifiers located at all of our locations to assist with air quality.
• We’re asking our patients to change their behavior by having them social distance at check-in, wear a face mask into the office and not bring additional people to their appointments. At check-in, we will take temperatures and have each patient complete a COVID-19 screening form as recommended by the ADA. We will re-appointment any patient that the doctor feels is at a higher risk of having or contracting COVID-19. We are scheduling a little differently to limit the amount of people that are in our office at one time so we are asking for patience if your requested appointment time or date is unavailable.
• To limit the amount of people in the treatment area, we are not allowing parents to accompany children back for their services. We may ask parents to wait in their car during their children’s appointment depending on our expected patient schedule at that time.

If any patient does not feel comfortable coming in at this time, we’re more than happy to reschedule their appointments. Please contact us to learn more!