Our top priority continues to be protecting the health and safety of our patients and team members. Our best practices, exceed CDC guidelines for sterilizing our instruments and disinfecting our treatment rooms to hospital levels. In order to further enhance your safety, we now disinfect all common areas of the office before and after each patient visit (videos below).
» OUR COMMITMENT
We remain committed to excellence for all patients and team members.
Our Front Office infection prevention procedures include:
- Disinfecting doorknobs, pens, clipboards, countertops, and restroom before and after they are used with chemical disinfectants which meet or exceed CDC guidelines.
- Requiring use of hand sanitizer for all visitors
- Providing tissues and no-touch receptacles for disposal
- Pre-screening dental patients before they come to the office, and rescheduling if showing any symptoms of a respiratory infection
- Taking patient’s temperature when they arrive at the office with a non-contact thermometer (If a patient’s temperature is above 99.7 degrees, we will ask the patient to reschedule their appointment.)
OFFICE ARRIVAL
FRONT OFFICE CLEANING
Our Treatment Room infection prevention procedures include:
- Sterilizing* all dental instruments and equipment
- Disinfecting** all surfaces including chairs, countertops, x-rays machines, patient overhead lights, computers, protective eyewear, dental tubing, and holders for dental materials
- Using single-use materials, such as needles, cotton rolls, Q-tips, cheek protectors, suction tips, protective eyewear, latex or non-latex tooth isolation, and nitrous oxide masks
- Requiring patients to swish with bacterial and virus-killing mouthwash after they enter a treatment room
- Using high volume suction when using equipment which produce aerosols to capture airborne particles
- Isolating teeth whenever possible, since it reduces aerosols by up to 70%
- Capturing aerosols, viruses, powders and mercury vapors with a Dental IQ Air Purifier which has HEPA filters, activated carbon filters and fine-dust post-filtration sleeves which achieve 99% total efficiency at 0.3 microns and 95% total efficiency at 0.003 microns
Our Sterilization Center is designed with two sides -- used and clean. Used instruments and equipment start on the designated side. Instruments are processed through our ultrasonic cleaner, rinsed, dried, and then sterilized in our autoclave. Equipment is disinfected, oiled, and sterilized in the autoclave. After being sterilized or thoroughly disinfected, instruments and equipment go on the clean side, so they are ready for use.
Air Purification
AIR PURIFICATION
Protecting Our Team Members:
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) including masks, gloves, glasses, face shields, scrubs and gowns
- Infection Prevention and Protocol Safety Team Training which includes proper protocols for masks, hand hygiene, surface disinfection and instrument and equipment cleaning
- Employee Wellness Strategies discussing ways to be healthier and happier
* Sterilizing means the instruments or equipment have gone through an autoclave where they have been exposed to pressurized saturated steam (250 - 270 degrees), which kills or deactivates all forms of life microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and spores. Our autoclave is tested weekly with a spore test through an independent agency to assure its effectiveness.
** The chemical disinfectants used to clean and disinfect inanimate surfaces between appointments kill and inactivate a broad range of viruses, bacteria, and microorganisms. They meet or exceed CDC guidelines and are EPA-registered hospital grade and intermediate level disinfectants, which inactivate tuberculosis, hepatitis, HIV, influenza, rhinovirus, coronavirus, and many others.
