COVID-19 Safety Precautions

 
 

For your safety and ours…

2020 brought us the Novel Coronavirus, COVID-19. Through the sequestration of March through May, we made significant changes in our office equipment, instrumentation, and protocols. Following is a list of infection control protocols that we have in our office to protect our patients, our staff, and to prevent the transmission of COVID 19:

  • No in office waiting area. Patients wait in their vehicle and we meet each person at the door individually. 

  • Patients are screened for temperature, blood pressure, and specifically questioned about potential COVID 19 exposure.

  • We use audio transmitters to communicate so that patients do not encounter other patients at all.

  • Our team is screened every day for temperature changes. Anyone suspected of being ill, stays home. 

  • We wear no street clothes in our office (including shoes). Everything that we wear in the clinical setting is laundered at the office. For patient care, we wear high filtration N-95 masks, level 4 isolation gowns, scrub caps, face shields, and gloves. Any gear that is reused is sterilized in our new UV light sterilizer. 

  • We have air sanitizers installed in our HVAC system and each treatment room has its own circulation. Doors or drapes isolate treatment rooms from hallways. 

  • When appropriate, for most patient treatment, we utilize high volume intra-oral vacuum devices to control aerosols. 

  • Presently, we have altered our schedule to allow more time for distancing and sterilization procedures. 

With a long history of excellent infection control measures, the dental office has always been a very safe environment for patients. The advent of this new virus with its airborne infection route has caused us to become more concerned about the air and lingering effects of droplets. These new concerns have precipitated many of the new protocols in our office. Even with the difficulty of acquiring equipment and supplies in today’s world, we feel that we have provided and environment that is safe for our patients, our staff, and our families.