COVID-19 Update

Current

There are currently no further updates. Continue practicing safe hygiene and patient interaction. We ask our patients that are sick to kindly reschedule their appointments.

9/1/2021

Hope everyone is keeping it together. With all the turbulent news out in the world, it is hard to decipher facts from fiction. Regardless of what you believe in, we wish you good luck and health.

We continue to offer dental services to all of our patients. We are asking patients, as usual, to reschedule their appointments if they feel ill or under the weather. We continue to do forehead temperature checks as well as the rigorous cleaning and disinfecting regimen that we’ve been following for years.

We are offering an easy way for you to communicate with us in the event of a positive COVID test result so that we can take the necessary steps and measures on our end.

Once again stay healthy and strong.

7/20/2021

Hello everyone. We are glad to announce that we’ll be continuing our regular clinical schedule for the foreseeable future. We continue to practice universal health precautions against infectious diseases as in the past.

In our effort to curb the spread of the new variants, we will continue to do temperature checks before dental visits. We also ask all of our patients not feeling well to reschedule their appointments to minimize any unnecessary risks.

We are offering a new tracking system. You simply scan a QR code into your phone when you arrive at our office to download the app. If you develop symptoms you can alert us easily by following the steps in the app.

Thank you and stay safe.

2/26/2021

Hello to you all. As the world turns, trends are changing in regard to the virus that has impacted our lives for almost a year. 2019 seems like so long ago. Hanging out with friends and family, going to a movie or a game, dropping off the kids at school and so much more are all the things that we’ve been missing since. However, things are beginning to look better.

The number of Covid infections is decreasing. There are a number of items that have helped us in turning the corner. And as things keep improving, hopefully, we’ll get back to our 2019 lifestyle (or something resembling it) sometime later this year.

In the meantime, we continue our TMJ and sleep apnea therapy services as usual. If you have been delaying your appointment, feel safe knowing that we are adhering to the CDC recommendations for everyone’s safety.

Be safe. Stay healthy and we look forward to seeing you soon.

10/22/2020

Hello to all. Hope everyone is doing well.

There have not been too many new developments with regard to COVID. In spite of an increasing number of infections (as expected) there has not been any exciting news to share.

We continue to treat every patient with the highest level of safety in mind. We don’t anticipate a major change in the trend.

As always we’ll keep you posted as to any new developments within our practice.

Be safe and be well.

8/5/2020

Hello everyone. We wish you and your family well.

Since the last time this page was updated, there are no major changes to report with respect to dental or medical care. We are still (and always) following the recommendations for minimizing the risk of COVID as well as other diseases.

For years we have been preventing the transmission of disease from patients to staff and to each other by adhering to infection control protocols. These protocols make the dentist’s office perhaps one of the safest places to be. Even though our profession boasts the highest risk for contracting COVID, there are no cases of any dental staff contracting COVID as a result of direct patient care, or vice versa.

We are here when you want to be seen. All you have to do is call.

Everyone stay safe until our next update in early September.

7/14/2020

Hello everybody. We hope you and your family are doing well considering everything.

There have been numerous updates over the last several days regarding the current pandemic. Some businesses have been required to close down again or re-structure how they operate.

None of the new updates impact dental care or other medical-related care for that matter. While dentists and dental personnel work in close proximity to the mouth and the airway, because of the rigorous protocols we follow there has not been any evidence of transmission of the virus to or by the dental personnel. Terms like “surface disinfection” and “infection control” have been part of the language since the AIDS outbreak. We have been trained to treat everyone as if they already are infected with some disease. So the new protocols are not that new for us in dentistry.

We have implemented several new protocols to further protect our staff and the public. And we continue to monitor the guidelines for any additional measures. In the meantime, know that our office is open for business with everyone’s safety in mind.

6/2/2020

Hello to everyone. We wish all of you well. It’s hard to believe one month has passed since we opened back up for “regular” business. And we use quotations to emphasize that it is the new regular.

We are updating and continue to update our office in compliance with the latest health guidelines. We are meeting and exceeding the recommendations in an effort to bring peace of mind to our patients. In dentistry, we have been trained to treat everyone as if they were contaminated/infected with some disease of some nature. The use of PPE and other physical barriers has always been an integral part of our dental practice.

Over the years we have treated patients with various medical conditions from diabetes to hepatitis and many more. And because of adherence to our infection control principles, we have been able to treat all of our patients safely since day one, some 20 years ago! The new novel virus has added additional steps to our existing infection control measures. We have taken these additional steps and measures and continue to do so for the betterment of our entire community. We want to help everyone feel comfortable and safe at our practice, no matter what new “virus” is going around.

We will continue to pre-screen all of our patients to minimize the potential spread of contamination. Temperature checks at the office are being performed. Patients with questionable health status (i.e. I don’t feel well, coughing, or have a temperature) will be rescheduled. We are doing our best to minimize patient-to-patient interaction by having patients exit thru the back door upon completion of their treatment. In addition to disinfecting the treatment rooms as always, we are disinfecting the entire office (reception room, door handles, counters, etc.) in between each patient. We are using a fogger sprayer to fog the office daily with biocompatible, EPA-approved cleaning/disinfecting medication. The list goes on and on. Bottom line: we want everyone to feel safe when they come for their appointment.

We hope the worse is behind us, but no matter what, we’ll always be up to the challenge.

5/5/2020

We hope you and your family are doing well and in good health. Our community has been through a lot over the last few months. We are all looking forward to resuming our normal habits and routines, which may not be immediately possible. While many things have changed and continue to change, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to your safety.

Infection control has always been a top priority at our practice. By adhering to rigorous disinfection protocols we have been delivering dentistry safely and comfortably for many years. We follow the guidelines and recommendations of ADA (American Dental Association), CDC (Center for Disease Control & Prevention), and OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) in regard to the current pandemic. As we slowly start to resume operations, you will notice some changes around our office in implementing these guidelines and recommendations. Some of these changes are:

We will communicate with you before your appointment to ask some simple screening questions. The same will be done when you come to your appointment.
We ask all our patients to wear a protective facial mask/covering before entering our office and while they are here. Obviously, we’ll ask you to remove the covering at the right time but by doing so we are minimizing the risk of virus transmission.
We will be doing a forehead temperature check.
As always we’ll have disinfectants and hand sanitizers for your use.
You’ll notice no magazines or children’s toys or refreshment bars as they are difficult to decontaminate
We ask you to limit the number of people accompanying the patient to their appointment to help maintain a safe social distance for everyone. Parents are encouraged to only bring the child patient, not the rest of the gang.
For our first-time patients, we will be emailing you the new patient forms to fill out. We ask you to scan the forms (or take a picture with your phone) and then email the forms back.
We are installing several barriers throughout the office.
We have invested in equipment to minimize aerosol during dental treatment

These are only some examples. There are other precautions being taken as well. We just don’t want to inundate you with all the details.

Taking these extra steps and precautions will help create a safer environment for the patient, the staff, and all the people coming into contact with them afterward. We are taking these measures now so hopefully one day soon we can go back to somewhat of the old normal.

TMJ & Sleep Apnea Center Management