5/20/20
Dear Patients, Families, & Friends,
We hope this letter finds you and your family in good health. We are writing to announce that we are hard at work preparing our office to reopen for emergency treatment only, tomorrow May 20th. Our community has 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 commitment to your safety.
Infection control has always been a top priority for our practice and you may have seen this 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 staff safe.
Our office follows infection control recommendations made by the American Dental Association (ADA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). We follow the activities of these agencies 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 adhere to each agencies’ recommendations.
Because reopen policies differ by state, we are mandated to follow the Massachusetts guidelines. These guidelines are presented as a four phased approach, it begins Monday May 25th, 2020 and can be found on the Mass.gov website.
In conjunction with the state mandate, Dental Associates of Walpole will also observe the guidance put out by the Massachusetts Dental Society. Beginning Tuesday May 26th, we will be opening our office and seeing patients who meet the phase one criteria, treat patients who have emergent or likely to become emergent dental needs. We will be staffed in all the dental specialties however, in accordance with Massachusetts guidelines, we will limit the types of procedures that will be performed. If you are experiencing any pain or discomfort, please contact our office immediately. As we transition through the next phases of Governor Baker’s reopen plan, we will make appropriate changes in our scheduling protocol.
I know many of you are concerned about your regular dental hygiene visits. Under the guidance, we have been advised to defer preventive treatment. Reinstatement is unclear, but likely to be introduced after phase two of the four phased approach. In the interim, your continued commitment to an excellent home care routine is imperative to maintaining good oral and overall health. Once we reopen hygiene, we will contact you to schedule an appointment.
You will see some changes when it is time for your next appointment. We made these changes to help protect our patients and staff. Below is a short list of some of these changes.
- Our office will communicate with you beforehand to ask some screening questions.
- We will review our new in office protocol which begins with you announcing your arrival to our parking lot via text or phone call.
- Once your clinician is ready for you, we will text/call you with instructions on safely entering the building. Please wear a mask or other cloth face covering.
- You will be met at the door by our transport person who will then:
- Re-ask the screening questions, take your temperature and pulse oximeter reading
- Ask you to sign our Covid-19 consent form. If you are an unaccompanied minor, you must come with this form signed by your parent or legal guardian.
- Collect any paperwork you have prepared at home
- Ask you to hand sanitize
- Transport you to your appointment
Please note that a patient between the ages of 10 and 18 must be escorted to the door by his/her guardian. Once the check-in process has been completed the guardian will remain outside while the transporter brings the child to his/her appointment. You will be contacted when the appointment has been completed to schedule a next visit and to meet your child at the door. If the child is less than 10 years of age, he or she may be accompanied by one parent or guardian.
- At the completion of your appointment you will be asked to reaffix your mask or face covering, your hands will be sanitized, and you will be escorted to the desk where we will close out your appointment and schedule your next visit.
We miss you and truly look forward to seeing you again. In the meantime, we are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we take to keep you, and every patient, safe in our practice. If you have any questions, please call our office at 508.668.8008 or email us at info@dentalassociatesofwalpole.com.
Thank you for being our patient. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming back our patients, neighbors and friends.
Sincerely,
All of us at Dental Associates of Walpole