COVID-19 Safety Protocols
Letter to Patients
Dear Patients,
Together, Keen Detnistry and you can do our part to control the spread of the coronavirus to save lives and buy our nation time to develop treatments and vaccines.
The American Dental Association (ADA) has sent recommendations to all U.S. dentists to help protect you as well as the dental professionals who serve you. Here are the temporary measures we now have in place to comply with ADA mandates:
· We will only be seeing patients in need of emergency dental care: related to the relief of pain and infection management.
o If you are scheduled for urgent dental care—such as a root canal or filling—your appointment will remain unchanged. However, we may contact you to see if you would like to reschedule and have the treatment completed sooner.
· All elective and non-essential procedures will be postponed for the next three weeks, or until the crisis abates. This allows us to mitigate limitations on availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare personnel caring for those with COVID-19; it increases our capacity to divert dental emergencies from hospital emergency rooms, alleviating their workload and reducing hospital exposure risks.
o If you have an upcoming hygiene or non-urgent appointment, we will contact you soon to reschedule, and notify you once we are fully prepared to resume business as normal.
Our phone lines will remain open for your questions and concerns. If you are experiencing a dental emergency, please call our office.
At Keen Dentistry, we have always followed standard universal precautions issued by the CDC and ADA to help protect every one of our patients and team members from the many infectious diseases that we are potentially exposed to on a daily basis. For your peace of mind, these are the same precautions we take EVERY time you sit in one of our patient chairs:
● We wear single-use gloves and masks while treating patients.
● We wear full length sleeves and launder all of our work clothing on site.
● We place instruments after each use into an autoclave (a high-pressure steam oven) to kill every known infectious organism, including coronavirus.
● We wipe down each dental operatory after each patient visit with a medical-grade surface disinfectant that kills all known infectious diseases, including coronavirus.
● We either wash our hands thoroughly or apply an alcohol-based compound between each patient.
In addition to the above standard measures, we will be exercising a higher standard of infection-control in our waiting areas, including removing all magazines, toys, and other items that are difficult to disinfect. And while we love and value each of our patients, handshakes and hugs may be replaced with an "elbow bump" for the time being.
While we are doing everything in our power to protect you, we also ask for your cooperation in making our office environment a safe one when you visit us. If you have a cough, fever, or chills, please call our office to discuss whether or not you should reschedule. We will be checking temperatures on all patients as they enter, and anyone with a reading over 99.9 degrees may be asked to reschedule to at least three weeks later as a precaution. Also, to practice social distancing and minimize the number of people in our waiting room, please show up no earlier than 10 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment and come alone when at all possible.
We care about each of you and hope that you and your family will remain in good health during this difficult time.
Sincerely,
Dr. Keen and Team