Re-Opening Information & Procedures

We are now resuming dental cleaning appointments and elective dental procedures. In order to protect our patients and team members, please read the following guidelines for your upcoming dental appointments. When you come in for an appointment, we are asking you to follow certain procedures to limit the number of patients in the reception area for health and safety purposes.

When You Come In:

• Please come alone (unless you need assistance). Do not bring additional family members unless they have dental appointments as well.
• If you would prefer to stay in your car until your appointment time, call us when you arrive, and we will let you know if your treatment room is ready.
• Please reschedule your appointment if you are feeling ill. Do not come in if you have a fever or cough, or have been exposed to someone who has COVID-19.
• If you are a new patient, please fill out all new patient paperwork on our website in advance.

Steps We Are Taking

• We have always complied with strict OSHA and CDC-mandated protocols to maintain a highly sterile environment within our dental office. These guidelines were created to safeguard against the spread of severely contagious diseases such as tuberculosis and measles, and they are equally effective in managing the spread of influenza and coronavirus. Below is a summary of the steps currently in place to ensure patient and team member safety.
• Team Health Screening: We are currently screening all team members each day with temperature and respiratory symptom checks.
• Patient Health Screening: Patients will be asked to complete a COVID-19 screening interview and temperature check prior to visits. We are asking for all patients to use hand sanitizer that we are providing upon arrival.
• Sterilization Procedures: We have always had extremely high infection control standards. The foundation of our infection control procedures is based on requirements established by the CDC that state that all body fluids are treated as infectious because patients with bloodborne infections can be asymptomatic or unaware that they are infected. This includes body fluids in airborne droplets from coughs or sneezes. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) used in our office is designed to ensure that no body fluids can be passed between staff and patients. These items are disinfected or discarded between patients to mitigate any patient-to-patient transmission. Strict surface sterilization procedures are followed to clean and disinfect all operatory surfaces between patients and, after each use, all dental instruments are cleaned and heat sterilized in steam autoclave machines in individual sterile pouches.
• Common Area Disinfecting: As a result of the current coronavirus concern, we have taken added precautions in the common areas. All magazines and pamphlets have been removed. Reception area surfaces and patient restrooms are disinfected frequently throughout the day. This includes a thorough wipe down of all hard surfaces, such as door handles, door knobs, tables, chairs and front office counters with Cavicide, a CDC-approved commercial sterilization agent. In addition, patients are being advised to practice social distancing in our lobby area or wait in their cars if preferred. According to the CDC, the most important steps we all can take to avoid infection from airborne diseases are frequent hand washing with soap and water and regular cleansing of highly-used surfaces with disinfectant. We recommend that all our patients take these basic precautions.

Thank you for your continued support!

Your Dental Healthcare Team
Tate Eble, DDS