COVID-19 Safety Precautions
At Christopher J. Fotinos Cosmetic & General Dentistry our steadfast commitment is to your health and safety. Our office follows the infection control recommendations from the American Dental Association, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. We are committed to ensuring that our infection control procedures are current and effective.
Based on the above associations recommendations,we have established the following guidelines and protocol to best protect our patients, staff and doctors:
Maximum of three patients in our waiting room and all patients will be required to practice social distancing appointments, so please come to your appointments alone. If a spouse or caregiver needs to drive you, please have them wait outside or in their car.
All patients will be required to wear masks when entering and exiting the office.
Protective eyewear is suggested, but not required.
Patients will enter through our main entrance on Chapman Ave and exit through the back entrance onto Cleveland St. The goal is to not have patients cross paths in common areas to decrease possible exposure.
All patients will be required to practice 6 feet of social distancing with non dental personnel.
All patients will have their temperature taken when entering the office and current symptoms of illness reviewed.
All patients will be screened for updates to their medical history, past and current travel history and compliance with social distancing.
A ten question patient COVID-19 disclosure form will be required to complete at each dental appointment.
All patients will pre-rinse with a 1.5% hydrogen peroxide oral solution prior to dental treatment to decrease any bacterial load as advised by the ADA.
Only one patient will be seen every 30 to 60 minutes by the Dentists and Dental Hygienists, decreasing patient overlap and creating what we call “Safe Social Distancing Dentistry”.
All staff will be wearing ADA and CDA compliant PPE: surgical caps,masks, glasses, face shields, gowns and gloves.
All staff will practice ADA and CDA approved disinfection and sterilization guidelines before and after each patient appointment.
All common areas and bathrooms are disinfected after each use.
All staff and doctors are routinely tested for covid-19.
Plexiglass barriers have been installed where necessary to insure patient and staff protection.
State of the art Austin Air filtration devices have been installed in each operatory to filter aerosols and debris up to 0.1 microns. Coronavirus is 0.3 microns and therefore filtered away by these amazing modern devices.
One very important fact is that any intra oral infection, especially “Bleeding Gums” (Gingivitis or Periodontitis) greatly increases your risk to contract Covid-19 because the infection suppresses your immune system, therefore limiting your defenses to the coronavirus. Appointments to have your teeth cleaned and or treat any other intra oral infection should be completed as soon as possible to increase your bodies defences and improve your dental and overall health.
We truly understand this makes each appointment more challenging, but our main objective is to keep you safe and healthy, so we appreciate your understanding.
