Safety and Protection
Dear Patients,
Our community has been through a lot the last few months. Thank you for all your support during our shutdown. We know many of you were looking forward to your appointments that had to be cancelled over the course of the shutdown. While many things have changed as we return to our normal, one thing has remained the same – our commitment to your safety.
Infection control has always been a top priority at our practice. We follow infection control recommendations of the American Dental Association (ADA), CDC, and OSHA. As such we:
- Use hospital-grade disinfectants to clean all surfaces in the office
- Use single-use instruments when possible
- Sterilize other instruments with a medical-grade autoclave, which is tested weekly by an independent lab.
Moving forward to build on that safety protocol, you’ll see some changes at your next appointment. These changes have been put in place to help protect our patients and staff even further.
- Prior to your appointment, our office will call to ask some screening questions. You’ll be asked those same questions again when you arrive at the office.
- We ask that you wear a mask to enter our facility and not remove it until we are ready to work on you.
- We ask that you sanitize your hands upon entering the office.
- A no-touch temperature check will be obtained prior to escorting you to the back.
- We ask that you do not bring others to the appointment, as we are limiting the number of people in the office.
- To reduce aerosol in the office, we have invested in High Volume Suction systems that capture the aerosol prior to leaving the mouth, and additionally installed HEPA filtration systems that destroy 99.7% of the remaining aerosols.
- Our waiting room will no longer offer magazines, children’s toys, or water cooler services, since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect after each use. We will, however, vigilantly sanitize all surfaces like door handles.
- Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing, which means fewer patients seen during the day. This might mean you may be offered fewer options for scheduling, and we suggest that you don’t wait for the perfect appointment time and try and take what is available, especially given the backlog and all the appointments that had to be cancelled over the last two months, until we can catch up with the demand.
- We will do our best to allow greater time between patients to reduce waiting times for you, and reduce the number of patients in the reception area at any one time. We’d like you to use your car as a virtual waiting room and call us at 630-718-1901 to let us know you have arrived. Our staff will call you to come in when we are ready for you.
- Moving forward, we will have to charge a PPE fee given the high cost of this protective gear. Most insurances have agreed to cover this fee; however, when not covered, it will be the patient’s responsibility.
Unfortunately, this is our new normal. We are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we are taking to keep you as well as our staff safe. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming back our patients, neighbors, and friends.