COVID-19 UPDATE as of FEBRUARY 17, 2021

February 17, 2021

To Our Patients and Friends,

We are thrilled to share that as of February 17, 2021, all our clinical team members will be 2 weeks post their second COVID-19 Vaccines.  While this important milestone provides one additional layer of protection for our patients and staff, we will continue to maintain and follow all the other COVID-19 safety protocols as we have throughout this pandemic.

Providing Oral Health Care for our patients during the pandemic has been of outmost importance to us and we continue to be confident in our emphasis to place safety and cleanliness as central to our mission.

Our dedicated and skilled staff remains the same, as does our commitment to quality and detail.  Since we reopened in June 2020, we have prided ourselves and our staff with having worked hard to ensure your confidence and safety with the following adaptations:

**Confirmation and Curbside Check-In with our COVID Concierge:

·        As part of our appointment confirmation procedure, patients are being prescreened for COVID-19 risk factors by phone a few days prior to their appointment.

·        Upon arrival, we ask that patients call from their car to check-in. All patients will again be screened as well as have a temperature check. At that time, patients can wait in their cars until a treatment room is available for them.

**In-Office Procedures for Your Well-being:

·        Upon entrance into the office, hand sanitizer will be provided for you.

·        Patients will be expected to wear a mask at all times in our office except when they are actively receiving their dental treatment.

·        With the exception of patients who are minors, we are asking patients to please come into the office alone.

·        Our staff is continually monitoring and disinfecting frequently contacted surfaces such as door knobs, chair arms, and restroom fixtures. 

·        To facilitate social distancing, appointment times are staggered as well as having additional time scheduled between patients.

**Direct Patient Care:

·        HEPA filters have been placed in each treatment room as well as the main hallway for additional air filtration.

·        Dental cleaning procedures are done with conventional hand instruments rather than with the ultrasonic scaler (Cavitron) to eliminate the aerosol created by the ultrasonic scaler.

·        Of course, some procedures cannot be accomplished without producing aerosol.  To address this, we have converted one of our treatment rooms into a negative pressure room with the potential to recycle the air approximately every two minutes.  This room will be used for those procedures.

We truly have appreciated your understanding and patience as we continue to be committed to your dental health needs.  Rest assured that we remain confident as we maintain the high level of professionalism, competence, and safety that you expect and deserve from us. 

We wish you and your family continued health and look forward to seeing you soon!

Best Regards,

 Andrew Witrock, DMD and Diane Axelrod, DDS