An Open Letter To Our Patients About COVID-19

Dear Patient,

We hope this letter finds you and your family in good health. Our community has been through a lot over these last few months, and all of us are looking forward to resuming our regular routines. While many things have changed, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to your safety. Infection control has always been a top priority in our practice, which you have undoubtedly seen during your visits to our office. Our infection control processes are made so that when you receive care, it’s both safe and comfortable. We want to tell you about the infection control procedures we follow in our practice to keep patients and our team safe.

Our office follows infection control recommendations made by the American Dental Association (ADA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and The New York State Dental Association (NYSDA). We follow these agencies’ activities so that we are up-to-date on any new rulings or guidance that may be issued. We do this to make sure that our infection control procedures are current and strictly adhered to each agency’s recommendations. You may see some changes when it is time for your next appointment. We made these changes to help protect our patients and our team.

We request that upon entering the office you wear a mask. If you are not wearing a proper medical mask, we will supply you with one. Hand sanitizer will be readily available for your use. When you first arrive, we will ask you to use the provided hand sanitizer as you enter the office. You will also find hand sanitizer in the reception area and other places in the office for you to use as needed and requested.

Our waiting room has sufficient space to accomplish social distancing, but in keeping with our new goals and guidelines, we are working to limit the use of the waiting room. To accomplish this:

• We are discouraging our patients from bringing a guest to their appointment. We request that they wait in the car.
• Appointment scheduling will also be managed to allow for social distancing between patients.
• We have also changed the configuration of the waiting room to allow for social distancing when the waiting room is in use by more than one patient.
• We will no longer offer magazines since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect.
• After each patient, we conduct a thorough wipe down of all surfaces in the operatory, in addition to the general office, paying attention to frequently touched areas such as: doorknobs, handles, bathroom faucets, and countertops.