Thank you for being a part of our dental family. These are challenging times and I hope that you and your family are in good health. We are seeing patients during our normal business hours of Mon/Wed- 9:30-6:00 pm, Tue/Thur 9:00-6:00 pm, and 2 Fridays/1 Sat per month 9:00-3:00 pm.
These changes are based on guidelines from the CDC, OSHA, & the American Dental Association (ADA).
1. When you schedule an appointment, our front office staff will ask you screening questions to determine your current state of health.
2. To maintain social distancing and minimize contact, please call our office at 949 252-1889 when you arrive in the parking lot. If you need to sit in the waiting area, we request that only patients with scheduled appointments (or only one parent if we are seeing your child), come into the office.
3. We will call you on your mobile phone when we are ready to seat you in a treatment room. Please wear a mask or face covering when you enter our office and continue to wear it until we are ready to begin treatment.
4. Our staff will take your temperature and may ask if anything has changed in your answers to the screening questions. They will be wearing masks when they greet you in the reception area.
5. For all AGPs (Aerosol Generating Procedures include cleaning with an ultrasonic scaler, fillings, crowns, root canals, oral or periodontal surgery, etc., we will be charging an infection control fee of $15 per appointment to help offset the increased costs for VacStation Equipment, COVID-19 disposable gowns and jackets, N95 masks, barriers, disinfection supplies, and other disposables. After an AGP, we will have to shut down the treatment room for a specified period of time to allow our HEPA air purifiers to scrub and filter the air or use our Aegis VacuStation.
Click the YouTube link below to find out more about our Aegis VacuStation external large volume vacuum system.
6. Before any AGP, we will be having you rinse with a 1.5% hydrogen peroxide solution for 60 seconds.
7. If you are having a cleaning and exam visit, we will NOT be routinely using an ultrasonic scaler to minimize aerosols generated. Note that we have recently added teeth polishing after cleanings by request. There will not be a separate infection control fee unless you require use of an ultrasonic scaler because of the extra PPE and not being able to use that treatment room until the HEPA filter cleans the air.
8. If you are having fillings done, we will be placing an isolation mask onto the area we are working after getting you numb and before we begin treatment. Please remind us if you have a latex allergy.
9. At the completion of the treatment, please wait until we hand you a routing slip with notes for the front office to know what was done and what to schedule for your next visit. My back office staff and I have to remove our PPE (personal protective equipment) according to OSHA protocols before we can exit the treatment area which will delay us.
While some of you may be consider delaying dental care, please be advised that your mouth and teeth are connected to the rest of your body and the consequences of delayed treatment will affect your overall health. Studies prove that there is a direct link between poor dental health and heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses. Dental neglect also lowers your immunity to infectious diseases like COVID-19 and could lead to COVID-19 complications.
Since reopening back in May, we have noticed in our patients an increase in new cavities, faster growing cavites, more fractured teeth, higher rates of periodontal disease, and other dental issues due to changes in habits of online school, working from home, and stress. It could take years to control COVID-19 with issues of vaccine safety, effectiveness, willingness of people to get a vaccine, and distribution of the vaccine, please. Therefore, make your dental care a priority and schedule a visit today.
We appreciate your cooperation with these changes and look forward to seeing you at your next dental visit.
Dr. Keith Tang & Staf