The California Department of Public Health has stated that dental offices are now allowed to reopen to normal capacity and perform non-emergency and elective procedures. Our office is committed to increasing our safety standards to protect our staff and our community by implementing the following protocols.
Air Purification
Our office contains two Everest Fresh Air Purifiers that utilize ozone and UV-C light technology. These purifiers clean the air throughout the office by continually filtering and killing airborne bacteria, viruses, and other germs. Added air purification systems like these ensure that the air you breathe in our practice is as clean as possible.
Patient Screening
Before you visit our office, we will ask you a series of health-related screening questions. Our administrative team will ask each patient questions similar to the following:
- Have you been coughing recently?
- Have you experienced a fever or difficulty breathing recently?
- Have you traveled outside of the U.S. within the past 14 days?
- Have you been in close contact with anyone who has or recently had COVID-19 in the past 14 days?
- Have you been in close contact with anyone who currently has a fever, cough, or breathing issues?
Once you have answered our screening questions, a contactless temperature scan will be performed. All patients must have a temperature of less than 100.4 degrees to be seen. Anyone who has a higher temperature will need to reschedule their appointment.
Hand Sanitizer & Face Masks
We are requiring patients to wear face masks upon entering our office. We will also have hand sanitizer available for patients to use when they enter and exit the building.
Limited Time in Waiting Room
In the following weeks, we will be seeing patients at a limited capacity to allow for social distancing. We also will stagger appointments to limit patient-to-patient interaction. All of our unnecessary items, like magazines and toys, have been removed from the reception room.
Personal Protective Equipment
In addition to the already stringent sterilization and protection guidelines our office abides by, we have added new items for additional staff and patient safety. These include respirators, face shields, and intraoral aerosol evacuation appliances. Protective barriers like respirators and face shields are very effective at preventing the transmission of viruses.
Dental offices have some of the strictest infection control protocols of any public space. This was the case before the elevated infection protocols were introduced in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and it is still true as of now. Of all of the public spaces you could visit in the next couple of months, a dental office is among the safest. If you have any questions or concerns for our team about our new protocols, please don’t hesitate to ask.