COVID-19 Office Visit Changes

As we live through this unprecedented time, we continue to strive for normalcy and to get closer to our pre-COVID19 lives. At our office there will be some changes to ensure the safety of our patients, our staff, and our community. We have listed a few additions and modifications to our office procedures.

New Equipment

1. Medify Air Purifiers: We have purchased three medical grade air purifiers that have high efficiency H13 TRUE HEPA filters. They are tested to remove 99.97% of particles down to 0.1 micron. These machines will allow us to filter the air in the office in a more efficient manner and remove pollen, dust mites, and other tiny airborne particles not visible to the eye.
2. Extra-oral Suctioning System: This system allows us to capture droplets and aerosols produced during dental procedures. It has a medical-grade Hepa 3 layer system, which stops viruses and other germs ≥ 0.3µm with 99.995% efficiency. It has a medical grade UV Light Disinfectant system which can kill virus caught in the filter.
3. Portable Suctioning device: This smaller device also has a UV light and Hepa filter to help us suction during quick bracket repair appointments.

Office Social Distancing
During this time we will reduce the number of patients in our office at any given time. We have closed our waiting room and we ask all patients to wait in the parking lot and come in only when we call you to let you know we are ready to see you. We will keep all patients spread throughout the office to maximum distance between people. We ask only the patient to come into our treatment facility until there are special circumstances. We want to let you know that our chairs are originally spaced more than 6 feet apart from each other. But we will actually only use 4 of our 6 chairs initially so we can maximize the distance between patients (at least 10 feet apart).

Cleaning Protocols
We will be using an EPA approved disinfectant to wipe down all chairs and countertops. In addition, we will spray hypochlorous acid, which is made naturally by white blood cells and is extremely safe. Your eye doctor may use this in your eyes for infection and it is certified as skin safe.

Protective Gear
We will still be smiling at you, but we will be covered up with gowns, masks, and face-shields to ensure everyone’s safety. We will have staff badges with their smiling faces on them.

Aerosol Generating Procedures
Any aerosol generating procedures will be placed in a separate private room to make sure we reduce the exposure to our regular adjustment patients. The private room will have its own private air purifying system and the room will be completely sanitized after every patient. Please inform us if you have any broken appliances since the repair process will generate aerosols and we need to reserve this room. Braces removal will now be scheduled for Friday afternoons so we have the whole weekend to allow aerosols to be removed completely.

We will enforce a strict policy to wipe down the entire office regularly and our office will look more sterile than ever. Please understand the changes are to protect your safety. We will continue to give you virtual hugs and provide updates over the phone. We are all in this together and we hope we can go back to a friendlier environment in the near future.