COVID-19

On Monday, May 18, Governor Lamont issued further guidance to all dentists considering an expansion of operations beyond emergency care during the COVID-19 pandemic. These new safety standards, incorporated at our office, include a combination of recommendations from the CT Best Practices for Dental Offices, American Dental Association Return to Work Toolkit, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, OSHA, and the CT Department of Health.

While everyone remained sheltered in place, our focus became finding a way to return to work, create a reproducible “hospital grade” environment, and provide the utmost safety for our staff, patients, family and friends. Investigative research, webinars, and the collaboration of resources from dental leaders, equipment suppliers, infection control experts, and colleagues, helped guide our decision-making process. We have purchased six Medical-grade air purifiers with HEPA-13 filtration, two IQAir Dental Series HealthPro Plus Air purifiers with a FlexVac cart to be used for high-speed evacuation during aerosol producing procedures, one Quatro-Air Technologies MedEvac-S high-speed evacuation during aerosol producing procedures, a Medical grade UV-C sterilization unit for room and garment disinfection and sterilization, and lastly “Sanifogg,” a hydrolyzed antimicrobial solution approved for CoVid-19 disinfection that inactivates pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, spores, and fungi, dispensed where needed with a  portable fogger unit. Although our office and physical appearance may be different when we come to greet you, we make every effort to meet your needs in this “new normal world.” Our staff wears wearing disposable gowns or protective lab coats, N-95 face masks and shields when necessary, and surgical caps or head coverings during procedures. Our waiting and reception rooms now have plexiglass installed, and we are instituting new pre and post-screening mechanisms, to eliminate patients congregating and enhance social distancing standards. Below you will find our safety recommendations outlined for clarity.

Infection control has always been a top priority for our practice, and our office has always followed infection control guidelines prescribed 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.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in accordance with the ADA’s return to work recommendations and the State of CT best-practices guidelines, you may see some changes when it is time for your next appointment. The most important consideration for us is the safety of our patients and our staff. These changes include:

• Our office will communicate with you beforehand, by phone or email, to ask some screening questions regarding COVID-19. You’ll be asked those same questions again when you are in the office.
• You must wear a mask or cloth covering to enter our building and at all times in our office except during treatment.
• We have hand sanitizer that we will ask you to use when you enter the office. You will also find some in the reception area and other places in the office for you to use as needed.
• At check-in, your temperature will be taken with a contactless thermometer.
• We ask that you bring only your wallet, cell phone and car keys into the office (can be in a small purse). No large bags can be brought into the treatment rooms. We will provide a paper bag for you to place these items in. Cell phones cannot be used in the treatment rooms.
• We will ask you to call us from your car when you arrive and we will give you instructions. No escorts will be allowed in the waiting or treatment room, they must wait in the car (unless given permission for a child and/or an individual with special needs).
• Parents may bring in only one child at a time. Our waiting room will not be used during the pandemic; only one parent will be permitted in the treatment room, no siblings.
• Our waiting room will no longer have magazines or children’s toys since they could provide a surface that may act as a communicable medium for the virus.
• Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. Appointments will be staggered. This might mean you’re offered fewer options for scheduling your next appointment.
• We will do our best to allow greater time between patients, reduce waiting times for you, reduce the number of patients moving through the reception area, and to provide adequate time to disinfect our facility and treatment areas.
• Patients age 65 and over, or with underlying health conditions, and or comorbidities, are strongly encouraged to continue to postpone elective procedures.

We realize that each and every one of you who was cancelled is eager to reschedule and return for treatment. We also realize it will be difficult to reduce this backload of appointments without your continued patience. To enhance our reappointment process, we have created a chronologic cancellation list and will call to reappoint you, if we haven’t done so already. As always, feel free to call the office, if you require urgent care.

Our schedule has been modified to minimize patient crossover at the front desk and reception area to allow for adequate sanitization. FOR THESE REASONS, IT IS CRITICAL THAT YOU BE ON TIME, AND ARRIVE 5-10 MINUTES PRIOR TO YOUR APPOINTMENT. Our schedule cannot be modified for late patients. If you are late, expect to be rescheduled. And lastly, for your safety and ours, if you answer” YES” to any of our prescreening questions, or present with a temperature in what we consider a feverish range, your appointment will be rescheduled. As summer approaches, and you wait to be called to enter our facility, please be advised it is imperative to remain in your car with the air conditioner running, so temperature checks will be accurate during your initial examination.

We ask again for your continued patience during this transition phase to our “new norm,” and look forward to seeing you all very soon!

Dr. Jeffrey A Tamucci and Staff