How Do We Protect Our Patients During COVID-19?
During this pandemic, we have taken certain actions to prevent spreading the virus and to ensure our patient’s safety when they come to the Park Avenue Smiles. We follow all the CDC guidelines, including sterilization, protective gear, and abiding by social distancing in the interest of the health of our patients, dentists, and staff.
Infection Prevention and Control During the COVID-19 Response:
- We make sure everyone in the office is wearing protective masks and gloves. If you do not have personal protective equipment we will gladly provide them to every patient.
- We incorporated a new approach to scheduling appointments which minimizes the amount of time you spend in our waiting room or reception area. We leave more time in between appointments to minimize the number of patients in our office at one time.
- We have a spacious waiting area that allows social distancing.
- All our doctors utilize disposable surgical gowns, gloves, and masks that are discarded after each patient exam. All our dentists use FDA and CDC approved surgical masks. When the dentists remove their gloves they perform hand hygiene immediately before and after each patient.
- We have dedicated containers for waste of disposable gowns, used gloves, etc.
- Our staff is screened before their shift for fever and symptoms of COVID-19 daily.
- All patients are encouraged to use alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR) with 60-95% alcohol or washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds before visiting the dentist. According to the CDC guidelines for dental offices antibacterial soap and sanitizer are readily available to all patients at every sink in our office.
- We eliminated all non-essential items in our office to avoid the spread of bacteria and viruses. All our essential packages are sterilized outside at delivery before they are brought into our office.
- All dental equipment and other objects are sterilized in number one trusted resource and reliable sterilization- autoclave. Sterilization eliminates all microorganisms such as fungi, bacteria, viruses, and spores to enhance our patients’ safety and make all objects sterile and aseptic.
- Patients enter the exam room only one at a time. We consistently clean and disinfect the room surfaces and equipment according to the Guidelines for Infection Control in Dental Health-Care Settings, using EPA-registered, hospital-grade disinfectant.
- We also offer our patients Peridex (Chlorhexidine Gluconate 0.12% Oral Rinse) to prevent infection. Patients are asked to rinse their mouths before each procedure.
NOTE: We do not treat patients with an active COVID-19 symptoms.
If you require more information about COVID-19 safety measures we take in our dental center please call our office.
