COVID-19 Policy/Procedures

Dear Patient:

We hope this letter finds you and your family 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.  Our infection control processes are made so that when you receive care, it’s both safe and comfortable for our patients and our staff. 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. 

You may see some changes when it is time for your next appointment. We made these changes to help protect our patients and staff. For example:

• Please make our office aware if you have had a fever, cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, any flu-like symptoms, or loss of taste or smell in the last 14-21 days.
• Please arrive 10 minutes prior to your appointment time to complete all necessary prescreening protocols.
• You will be asked a series of questions upon arrival to make sure you are showing no symptoms of Coronavirus.
• To allow for social distancing, we are asking for you to come alone. Please do not bring anyone else into the office unless absolutely necessary. If someone must accompany you, it is required that we screen them for COVID-19 as well.
• When we ask you to come into the office, please arrive wearing face-covering protection.
• We will be taking your temperature upon arrival.
• We have a hand sanitizer that we will ask you to use when you enter the office. You will also find some in other places in the office for you to use as needed.
• Please brush and floss your teeth at home before your appointment. You will not be able to brush your teeth in the office. You will also be asked to rinse with a preprocedural oral peroxide rinse.
• You may see that our waiting room will no longer offer magazines 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.

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 call our office at 440-887-0550. Thank you for being our patient. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming back our patients, neighbors and friends.

Sincerely, 

Dr. Carrie Hansen and staff