The quarantine is coming to a close here in the Montgomery County, MD area and offices are starting to open up.
We wanted to update you on some of the exciting things that we have been working on in the office to help keep everyone safe and protected. As some of you may have noticed if you have visited the office recently, we have made some changes to help protect our patients and staff.
Infection control has always been a top priority for our practice and you may have seen this during your recent visits to our office. Our infection control processes are made so that when you receive care, it’s both safe and comfortable. 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 are excited to let you know that we have partnered with a local company to install Needlepoint Bipolar Ionization (NPBI) units to help purify our air and to help eliminate particulates, odors, and pathogens. It is connected to our HVAC systems and it is a technology that is used at the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins Medicine. We have attached some information if you are interested in reading.
Here are some changes that you may see when you come to visit:
- We ask that all patients wear a mask or facial covering when coming into and leaving our office.
- We have installed Plexiglass barriers to protect our staff and patients.
- Our office will have you fill out a health questionnaire once you are in the office. If you would like to fill out the questionnaire at home, please click on the link: https://us.patientriver.com/allsmilesbethesda
- We will also measure your temperature with a touchless thermometer.
- We will have soap and hand sanitizer for you to use throughout the office.
- Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. This might mean that you are offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.
- Our office will call you to confirm or schedule your next appointment (even if you are already scheduled).
- We are gradually phasing in our re-opening so that we can limit the number of patients.
- Please arrive on time (not early or late) for your appointment to minimize contact with others.
- Please call or text us when you are in the parking lot. We will call or text you when we have your room ready for you.
- To help with social distancing, we are limiting the number of people in our waiting area.
- Besides infection control measures and disinfection standards practiced by our staff, we have professional cleaning services that disinfect the office.
- We have Electrostatic Hypochlorous Misters that we will begin to use in the office. This is the same technology that they use on cruise ships and large convention halls.
We look forward to seeing you again and we are happy to answer any questions that you may have. We will gradually call many of you to schedule appointments that we had to reschedule in the last few weeks. If you would like to schedule an appointment, please call us at 301-984-9646 or email us at info@allsmilesbethesda.com or lorraine@allsmilesbethesda.com. We serve the Bethesda, Rockville, Silver Spring, and the Washington, DC area.
*** For more information on COVID-19/Coronavirus prevention in dental offices, click here.