As we at Sweet Spot Dental re-open our doors, we are pleased to give notice of our new safety protocols set in place to protect both our patients and our dental team.
As healthcare providers, we've been fortunate enough to have received priority access to the Covid19 immunizations. Our team is dedicated to putting your health first. While the vaccination provides us with hope and a layer of protection, it does not provide total defense against contraction of Covid 19. For this reason, we will continue to adhere to the strictest safety protocols.
Our practice has always had the very highest of standards when it comes to your health and that hasn’t changed. Every time you visit our office, our primary goal is to ensure your health and your safety. We continue to maintain and uphold the requirements set forth by the CDC, OSHA, and the ADA in regards to sanitation and infection control, ensuring a clean and healthy environment for all.
Along with the health and sanitation requirements that we at Sweet Spot Dental have always upheld, we will be setting in place guidelines for all patients visiting our dental practice moving forward. We look forward to seeing you again soon and continuing to serve you with the highest level of care.
Safety Measures Taken Before Arrival
Before patient arrival every effort is made to...
- Screen patients during the phone call when scheduling appointments for care using established and recommended screening checklists
- Reschedule patients who show any signs of a cough or fever or who describe having any concerning warning signs
- Instruct patients to call ahead and reschedule their appointment if they develop symptoms of a respiratory infection (e.g., cough, sore throat or fever) on the day they are scheduled to be seen.
To promote social distancing...
- When booking patients, we are spreading out the schedule so there are less people in the waiting room (a maximum of two people at a time)
- If a patient is being accompanied, their escort should wait in the car to limit the number of people in the waiting room and promote social distancing
Safety Measures Taken Upon Arrival
Patients are...
- Provided with alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR) with 60-95% alcohol immediately upon entry.
- Asked to keep their mask on until seated in the treatment room.
- Assessed for respiratory symptoms and fever (with a non-contact digital infrared forehead thermometer)
- Asked to rinse with 1% hydrogen peroxide before each appointment
- Asked about the presence of symptoms of a respiratory infection and history of travel or contact with possible COVID-19 patients.
- If fever temperature of 100.2 degrees F or higher or respiratory symptoms are present, they will be advised to seek medical treatment and their visit will be rescheduled.
- As testing for the virus becomes more available, and once we have clearance to provide these tests, we will be incorporating this added benefit to screen patients.
Protocols of our Clinical Team
We adhere to usual standard and transmission-based precautions in operatory but with greater attention to detail to ensure that procedures are followed consistently and correctly.
Furthermore, we have employed a sterilization point person in the office whose main focus is only on sterilization.This team member will be responsible for cleaning, sterilizing, disinfecting and wiping down everything in the operatories and in the waiting room; chairs, handles, light switches, tables…etc on a regular basis.
Proper hand hygiene is performed by our staff...
- Before and after all patient contact, contact with potentially infectious material, and before putting on and after removing personal protective equipment (PPE), including gloves.
- After removing PPE in order to remove any pathogens that might have been transferred to bare hands during the removal process.
Personal protective equipment
- Our team utilizes PPE (masks, gloves, caps, eye protection, face shields, and gowns) as dictated by the latest CDC recommendations.
- Masks are one-time use and immediately replaced if soiled
Protocols after clinical treatment
- All non-disposable medical equipment used for patient care will be cleaned and disinfected according to manufacturer’s instructions.
- Our team ensures that all environmental cleaning and disinfection procedures are followed consistently and correctly.
- Routine cleaning and disinfection procedures that are appropriate for SARS-CoV-2 in healthcare settings will be performed
We are confident that these guidelines will help to create a safe environment for all of our patients and team members, and we hope that you can feel secure in the knowledge that we are doing everything in our power to provide the safest clinical conditions in order to protect our patients and our team.
