To our valued patients,
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 safety.
Infection control has always been a top priority for our practice and you may have seen this during your past visits to our office. Our infection control processes 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.
Our office follows all infection control recommendations made by the American Dental Association (ADA), the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). We follow the activities of these agencies so that we are up to date on any new rulings or guidance that may be issued. We do this to make sure our infection control procedures are current and adhere to each agencies’ recommendations.
You may see some changes once it is time for your next appointment. We have made these changes to further protect our patients and staff. For example:
- We will ask that all patients wear a mask when entering and leaving the building. Our staff has been instructed to wear a mask at all times when inside the building.
- Our waiting room will now be open utilizing CDC and NYS guidelines on social distancing. We ask that all patients text your arrival by responding to your appointment reminder on your phone, enter the building, use the hand sanitizer and wait to be called. You can do this by simply letting us know you are here through your confirmation text/email. Our staff will come to the waiting room to perform a health assessment and walk you in for your appointment. This will allow us to reduce any patient interaction and greatly reduce risk to all patients and staff.
- Please come to your appointment alone. If you are accompanied by someone we ask that they remain in their vehicle for the duration of your appointment.
- One parent/guardian will be allowed to accompany their child into the clinical areas if necessary. We ask that you do not bring siblings into the building if they do not have an appointment.
- Our staff will be asking you screening questions when you arrive, as well as taking your temperature prior to entering the building. Please reschedule your appointment if you are experiencing any symptoms including but not limited to fever, headache, cough, and/or shortness of breath. Please reschedule your appointment if you have been exposed to anyone who has exhibited these symptoms.
- We have hand sanitizer that we will ask you to use when you enter the office. You will find some in the reception area when you enter, as well as other areas of the office to be used as needed.
- Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you are offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.
- We will do our best to allow greater time between patients to reduce waiting time for you. This will also allow us more time to disinfect all clinical and non clinical areas regularly throughout the day.
We look forward to seeing you again very soon and are very happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we have taken to keep you, and every patient, safe while in our care. To make an appointment after stay at home orders have been lifted, please call our office at 297-1644.
Thank you for choosing us for your dental care. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming back our patients, neighbors, and friends.
Sincerely,
Dental Care Associates
Please view and share our latest COVID-19 Symptom Comparison Chart with your friends and family.
For further information, including measures to keep yourself healthy, visit the following links:- Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/prevention.html
- Symptoms: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/symptoms.html
- Steps When Sick: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/steps-when-sick.html