COVID-19

5/6/2020

 

Dear Patient,

We hope this letter finds you and your family in good health. Our community has been through a lot over the last few months, and all of us are looking forward to resuming our normal habits and routines. While many things have changed, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to your health and safety.

Infection control has always been and will continue to be a top priority for our practice. Our infection control protocols are made so that when you receive care, it is both safe and comfortable. We want to tell you about the infection control procedures we follow in our practice to keep patients and staff safe.

Over the past few years, we have upgraded to individual “cassettes” to hold our instruments. This large investment allows the instruments to be washed and sterilized with plenty of space between each instrument to ensure their effective sterilization. Additionally, it prevents team members from injuring themselves on sharp instruments and allows all the instruments to remain sealed until the patient is in the chair. We have always worn gloves and masks while working on our patients. Once a procedure is completed, the room is sanitized with hospital grade products. Any items that are not disposable are either sterilized or sanitized. Our office follows infection control recommendations made by the American Dental Association (ADA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

You may see some changes when it is time for your next appointment. We made these changes to help protect our patients and team.

What are we doing to protect you?

  • All team members will be screened daily. They will arrive in street clothes, change into their uniform at the office, and wear a new jacket for every patient seen. All staff will wear will masks and PPE at all times. Handwashing prior to the treatment of any patient is mandatory. As treatment providers, we will use oral rinses to reduce microbial number periodically during the day.
  • We have hand sanitizer that we will ask you to use when you enter the office. You will also find some in the reception area and other places in the office for you to use as needed. Patients will be asked to rinse with oral solutions to decrease their viral load as they enter their treatment room.
  • We expect minimal to no use of our reception area. We have arranged furniture to maintain social distancing of 6 feet.
  • You may see that our reception area will no longer offer magazines, children’s toys, etc., since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect. We will be providing bottles of water but will remove the coffee bar until further notice.
  • Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. This may mean that you are offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.
  • For the foreseeable future, we will be wearing a new jacket for every patient we see. Some of our team will be wearing head coverings depending on the type of procedures performed. Do not be alarmed if a face shield is worn. This may become our new normal.
  • We have invested in air purifiers for the office to help eliminate particles produced by aerosols.
  • We have installed plexiglass shields for the front desk.

 

How can you help us?

  • Please honor our NO VISITOR Visitors will be permitted for extreme exceptions only, which must be pre-approved before arriving. Understand this is being done to reduce the number individuals entering our office.
  • Our office will communicate with you beforehand to ask some screening questions. You will be asked those same questions again when you arrive. Understand this may create delays.
  • Please bring a face covering to your appointment to help conserve PPE of which there is short supply.
  • We are screening all patients for recent travel, fever, or signs of respiratory illness. We ask that if travel has occurred or symptoms are present, not to schedule an appointment in any office for TWO weeks.
  • If any patient has fever or respiratory symptoms, we ask you to cancel your appointment and call you doctor for testing.
  • If needed, please bring your own blanket, pillow, or additional layers of clothing to keep you comfortable during your appointment as we are no longer able to supply them. We will provide safety glasses, or you can use your own sunglasses if you prefer
  • Due to the extreme expense of the additional PPE required by CDC and OSHA, there will be a PPE fee added to each appointment. Please keep in mind that if you have two appointments in a day you will receive two PPE charges. The fee includes all new coverings for personnel and equipment for rooms utilized.

 

What to expect the day before your dental appointment?

  • We will call you and ask you screening questions for symptoms of COVID -19
  • If you are unable to take the call, please call us back promptly. It is of paramount importance to go through the screening questionnaire prior to seeing you at your visit.
  • We will discuss the steps to be followed when you arrive at the office.

 

What to expect the day of your dental appointment?

  • We ask that you arrive 15 minutes before your schedule appointment time.
  • Upon arrival, please stay in your car and call us to inform us of your arrival.
  • You will be asked a set of Covid -19 screening questions.
  • Your temperature will be taken with a touchless thermometer
  • We have installed tap to pay credit card machines (touchless) that will also allow you to use your phone to pay. You will still be required to sign credit card slip, but we will gladly email you the receipt if you prefer. There will be a dirty pens bucket for you to place your used pen in.
  • Once your visit is concluded, you will exit the office through our back door.

 

On a positive note, there are some exciting updates to the practice.

  • Krauser has revamped our website and is working on uploading forms to the site for updating medical history and for new patient paperwork. This will allow you to print the form and bring it with you or email it to us in advance. We know paperwork is tedious but we would like to have an updated medical history form completed yearly for every patient of record. We will have pens for your use. We ask that you drop any used pens in the dirty bucket so that they may be sanitized at the end of the day.
  • We have a new email address: [email protected]
  • You can find us on Facebook and Instagram. We are trying to be more active in the social media world. We love reviews. The greatest compliment we receive is new patients coming to us via online reviews or word of mouth referrals.
  • Krauser is working on implementing text message appointment confirmations. At this time, if you respond to a text message we cannot see the response, but that will be coming soon. She is also working on online scheduling for cleanings. We know that sometimes it can be difficult to find an appointment for a cleaning on the day and time that you prefer. We are working on a system by which you could book your own appointment online.

 

We look forward to seeing you again and are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we take to keep you, and every patient, safe in our practice. To make an appointment, please call our office at (727) 381-2809 or visit our website at www.greenbenchdental.com.  

Thank you for being our patient. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming back our patients, neighbors and friends.

Sincerely,

Dr. Lauren Krauser