COVID-19 UPDATE

June 1st 2020

What We Are Doing to Keep You and Our Team Safe

We are excited to have the opportunity to welcome you back! Our office has always implemented or exceeded Infection Prevention and Control Guidelines as set out by the College of Dental Surgeons of B.C. However, in light of the COVID-19 Pandemic we have instituted additional guidelines and protocols to ensure your safety.

You will see many changes, as we have new ways of scheduling and managing your appointments at our office. First, you will be contacted 24-48hours prior to your appointment via phone, text or email and asked a set of health-related questions. This is a very important and necessary screening procedure to ensure we keep our patients and staff safe and it is required that we complete this questionnaire prior to providing treatment for you. We may have to reschedule your appointment if we are unable to complete this step.

Below is a list of some of the enhanced precautions we have taken to protect you in addition to extensive team training on infection control and patient management procedures.

• Personalized arrival procedures to guide you from your car directly to treatment rooms to eliminate contacting surfaces.
• Maintain distancing in the reception area for essential caregivers and parents of minors if they cannot wait in a vehicle or outside the clinic.
• Removed magazines and items that can harbor or transfer germs of any kind. Hand sanitizers will be positioned throughout the clinic.
• Providing more educational materials to enhance your awareness of health issues related to this pandemic.
• We strongly recommend a mask to be worn by ALL patients upon entering the office.
• Installed sneeze guards or droplet barriers at all reception areas.
• Require hand washing and hand sanitizing before all appointments by our team and by our patients.
• Introduce an oral pre-rinse for all patients to reduce exposure to germs.
• Record temperature of every patient upon entering the office.
• Record the temperature and evaluate the health status of every team member each day at the beginning of the work period.
• Enhanced operatory disinfection procedures of all surfaces between patients.
• Plans are in place for the installation of air purifiers with HEPA and carbon filters and UVC disinfection in the clinical areas.
• Plans are in place for enhanced operatory disinfection procedures before and after all appointments with mist or fogging devices to access hard to reach places that can be easily missed.
• New personal protection equipment like visors, gowns, and masks for our doctors and team to provide barriers against the smallest of germs.
• Introduce protocols to reduce or eliminate airborne aerosols during all dental procedures.
• Enhanced nightly disinfection procedures of equipment and office fixtures like computers, keyboards, telephones, tablets, chairs, doorknobs, and buttons that may be touched unconsciously.
• Offer longer appointment times for you to prepare and complete all appointment tasks and duties in the safest and most comprehensive manner.

Please contact us if you have any further questions