COVID-19 Updates & Patient Guidelines
We hope this letter finds you and your family in good health. Our community has been through a lot over the last two years, and we continue to be cautious with our staff and patients by following the guidance of the Illinois Department of Public Health and appropriate advisory and regulatory authorities.
We want to assure you that our unwavering commitment to patient safety to ensure you are both safe and comfortable during treatment are extremely important to us.
With safety as a top priority, we’ve actively taken necessary steps to ensure patient care is completed with strict infection control measures. We continue to act with an abundance of caution in alignment with recommendations from the American Dental Association (ADA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
At your next visit (and beforehand), you will notice enhanced safety procedures, which have been put into place to help protect our patients, doctors, and staff. These include:
– Our dental care team will communicate with you before your visit and ask several screening questions as a precautionary measure. When you arrive for your appointment, you will be asked these same screening questions again. We will also administer a pre-screening assessment as recommended by the ADA.
– In order to limit the number of people in the office, our check-in process and visitor policy have been updated. Details will be shared with you when you schedule your appointment.
– We have hand sanitizer that we will ask you to use when you enter the office. You will also find hand sanitizer in the reception area and strategically placed throughout the office for you to use as needed.
– You will notice our waiting room will no longer offer magazines, children’s toys and so forth, 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 different 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.
Important Patient Guidelines
For patients with appointments, please read this entire list to understand what has changed and to make sure you are fully prepared for your visit.
- Please brush, floss and rinse your mouth before coming in.
- Please arrive on time. We will not be seeing late patients. If you arrive late, we will need to reschedule your appointment.
- Everyone entering the office should be wearing a mask, and should wear the mask at all times when they are not being treated. If the patient/guardian does not have a mask, the office will provide them with one.
- Only the patient and one (1) parent/guardian/escort is allowed into the office. Please plan accordingly as this measure helps to protect our staff and fellow patients who may be in our office.
- After checking the child in, parents/guardians may be asked to wait in their car while their child receives treatment, depending on space.
- If multiple children have an appointment, only one parent should accompany them.
- Anyone that enters the office will have their temperature taken and will be asked to answer a few questions about their current health. Any patient with a fever, runny nose, coughing, vomiting or diarrhea will need to be rescheduled.
- You will need to wash your hands and you may be asked to rinse your mouth with antiseptic mouthwash.
- We will do as much of the check-in and check-out process in the treatment room in order to limit interaction at the front desk.
Additional Information
– If you were unable to provide your insurance information when you scheduled your appointment, please call with that information at least four (4) days before your appointment. If we are unable to verify your information, you will be able to pay out-of-pocket.
– If you aren’t feeling well and your appointment is less than five (5) days away, please call us to reschedule.
– Should you need to make an appointment – or reschedule an existing one, please give us a call.
We look forward to seeing you soon 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.