COVID-19 Response

 

We hope you, your family and your friends are in good health

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 visit(s) to our office. Our infection control processes are made so that when you receive care, it is 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.

Here are some of the extra steps we are taking to keep you safe:

Health screenings

  • Our office will communicate with you beforehand to ask some screening questions. You’ll be asked those same questions again when you are in the office.

  • Before appointments, we screen all patients to ask if they have had a fever, cough, sore throat, chills, aches, or runny nose in the last two weeks. If so, we will reschedule them until they've been symptom-free for 14 consecutive days.

  • Every staff member, orthodontist, and patient will have their temperature checked upon entering the clinic.

Heightened deep-cleaning and sterilization

  • Every 30-60 minutes and after every patient visit, we disinfect doorknobs, handles, exam chairs, computers, tables, and desks.

Protective equipment

  • Everyone entering our clinics is required to wear a mask.

  • We have hand sanitizer that we will ask you to use when you enter the office. You will also find some in the reception area and other places in the office for you to use as needed.

  • Throughout our office, we will be adding plexiglass barriers along with numerous medical grade air purifiers & sterilizers in order to both minimize airborne contact and increase air circulation.

  • Disposable eye shields will be offered to all patients along with extra oral suction devices during your visit.

Social distancing

  • You may see that our waiting room will no longer offer magazines, children’s toys and so forth, since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect.

  • Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.

  • We will do our best to allow greater time between patients to reduce waiting times for you, as well as to reduce the number of patients in the reception area at any one time.

  • Our patient scheduling will be staggered to remove any overlap in the waiting room between patient appointments. 

  • To ensure all patients' safety is upheld, we must stress the importance of arriving on time for your appointment. If you are late for your scheduled appointment, it will be canceled because it will interfere with our ability to provide safe care for you and those around you.

We look forward to seeing you again and are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we take to keep you, and every patient, safe in our practice. To make an appointment, please schedule online call our office at (415) 515-4694 or use our online request form.

Thank you for being our patient. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming back our patients, neighbors and friends.

Sincerely,

The Gentry Dentistry Team