Procedures and Precautions for Covid-19
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 utilized personal protective equipment (PPE) that has exceeded all the CDC guidelines, however, in light of the COVID-19 Pandemic we have instituted additional guidelines and protocols to ensure your safety.
First, you will be contacted prior to your appointment via phone, text or email and asked a set of health-related screening questions. If you have had recent exposure to anyone with confirmed COVID-19 or are showing symptoms yourself, we will have to reschedule your appointment. 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.
- Sanitizing station for use when you arrive. We take the temperature of all patients and guests as well as repeat the health screening questions.
- Masks are to be worn by all patients and guests upon entering the office. We will provide a mask for anyone unable to bring their own.
- Limiting the number of patients in the office so we can maintain distancing in the reception area for essential caregivers and parents of minors if they cannot wait in a vehicle or outside the clinic.
- Removing of magazines, coffee station, and toys that can harbor or transfer germs of any kind. Hand sanitizers will be positioned throughout the clinic.
- Scheduling longer appointments with additional time between patients so our team can prepare and complete all additional appointment tasks and duties in the safest and most comprehensive manner.
- Hand washing or hand sanitizing before all appointments by our team and by our patients.
- Oral pre-rinse by all patients to reduce exposure to germs.
- Recording temperature and pulse oxygen of every employee upon entering the office.
- Touchless payment options such as text-to-pay for paperless invoicing and transactions.
- New personal protection equipment like visors, hair coverings, gowns, and high filtration masks for our doctors and team to provide barriers against the smallest of germs.
- Enhanced nightly disinfection procedures of equipment and office fixtures like computers, keyboards, telephones, tablets, chairs, doorknobs, and buttons that may be touched unconsciously.
- Providing teledentistry services for follow up lab reports or communication that can be done online or through video education.
- Enhanced operatory disinfection procedures before and after all appointments with fogging devices utilizing hypochlorous acid to access hard to reach places that can be easily missed. Hypochlorous acid, sometimes called electrolyzed water, is natural and eco-friendly. It is generated from table salt, water, and electricity. It oxidizes bacteria and virus and kills them. It more effective than bleach, but gentle enough to use on human skin. To learn more, visit https://www.ecoloxtech.com/technology-electrolyzedwater#About
While we aren’t sure how long these changes will last, but we thank you for your support and patience as we all navigate this new normal together to deliver the high quality, personalized dental care you have always expected from our office.
We cannot wait to see you again soon!
Sincerely,
Dr. Carley Odens and the Team at Riverbend Family Dental
