Dear valued patients,
We hope this letter finds you and your family in good health. We are happy to announce that our office is open for all dental treatments including cleanings, emergencies, and full range of services.
We have received guidance from the Ontario Dental Association, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Dental College of Dental Surgeon of Ontario to operate our clinic at a lesser capacity with increased health and safety measures including added personal protective equipment requirements for our staff and patients.
Bookings
Due to the huge volume of requests for booking appointments, we will address them based on urgency. We will also be contacting patients who were scheduled in March and April to reschedule their appointments. If you haven’t heard from us in the coming week, please contact our office. Following that, we will then take new bookings. In order to facilitate this, please request your appointment through our website https://www.oakvillefamilydental.com/book-an-appointment/
Health and safety
Our communities have 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 office’s commitment to your safety. During this time, we have implemented additional safety precautions to help protect our patients and staff.
We take patient’s safety seriously. We use Health Canada approved cleaning detergents and supplies. All instruments are washed then processed through ultrasonic cleaning. We incorporate different types of autoclaves that kill bacteria, viruses, and spores by using steam, heat, and pressure to render any reusable equipment sterile and safe. Each entry is recorded in a log and biological monitoring kits and spore tests are done daily and for every load. All instruments are wrapped and stored.
Along with regular cleaning and disinfection, all high touch surfaces such as outdoor handles will be disinfected frequently.
New protocols
We have added more infection control protocols to enhance the safety of all our patients and staff. We also created a policy to allow for social distancing in the office and achieve a safe environment. In this guide, we will highlight some of the changes we made to protect your health:
1) We will be pre-screening all patients to their appointment and again at the entrance to the office.
2) We will be taking temperature checks for patients and staff upon entry of the clinic.
3) We require that patients wear a cloth or disposable mask when entering our office and after the appointment when you are interacting with our front office team (we will have some available if needed)
4) We ask that you please use the hand sanitizer or wash hands when entering and before leaving the office.
5) We will be accepting only credit and debit payments until further notice to avoid handling cash. We will also be utilizing digital claim forms instead of paper forms.
6) We will be working on a reduced capacity to improve social distancing efforts and enhance the safety of staff and patients.
7) We will be waiving cancellation fees in case of experiencing a fever, cough, difficulty breathing, we request that for everyone’s safety, you contact our team to reschedule your appointment.
8) We will limit the number of patients in the practice area at any given time.
9) Appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) for all clinical and administrative staff, including masks for all team members; N95 (or equivalent) masks, face shields and gowns for the clinical team as required.
10) Cleaning and disinfecting of the reception area more frequently and as needed.
11) Daily temperature and symptoms check of all staff members.
12) Extra time scheduled between patients’ appointments to allow thorough cleaning and disinfection of treatment rooms and equipment.
For a full list of safety protocols, please visit our website: https://www.oakvillefamilydental.com/covid-19-safety-protocols/
As the situation continues to evolve, please be assured that we will be constantly assessing and adapting our processes to adhere to the latest updates and health guidelines.
Thank you so much for your understanding and patience. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Bronte Road Family Dental Team
