# Email from dentist



## debodun (May 27, 2020)

Apparently my dentist is opening her office to patients. However, many procedures will be in place before and after she lets you in. Woudl you agree to all these policies?

*You will see some changes when it is time for your next appointment. We will again express some of the following changes when we reach out to you by phone. *
_*
 Our team will communicate with you before your appointment to ask some screening questions and review current address, email etc

Please remain in your vehicle prior to your appointment until one of our staff comes out to your vehicle to take your temperature and again ask screening questions. 

We will then disinfect your hands with an 80% alcohol hand sanitizer and bring you alone to the dental chair unless you are a child or need assistance

Please wear mask until you are seated

 Please wear a sweater or jacket because the office will be chilly to accommodate our extra protective gear

Please only bring in items that your hands can hold - keys, phone etc

 You will see our reception area has been modified to be able to disinfect it easily
You will have access to hands free hand washing and spray hand sanitizer

Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean you are offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.

 We have glass windows for all check in and check out purposes

 There are medical grade HEPA filters throughout the office 
We would ask that you refrain from walk in appointments and please call first so we can limit the number of patients in the dental office.

You will see a nominal "PPE fee" to cover the cost of our additional protocols but it will not be passed along to you at this time. If you have any questions about this fee please ask a business team member

We will have all patients wear protective eye that we will disinfect and have you use during your appointment

Prior to dental treatment you will be asked to rinse with Colgate Peroxyl


*_
*We look forward to seeing you and your family again soon.*


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## CeeCee (May 27, 2020)

The only one I am sure about is bring a sweater....my daughter has been going to the dental office where she works and they’ve been practicing for 2 days now....don’t know what all their protocols are but she was telling me what she has to wear...

scrubs, then her lab coat over that. On her face she has to wear 2 masks...the better one, I forget if it’s the 95 or 94 but the reason is that the outer one they can dispose of and it saves the inner one for more than one use.
then she has to wear goggles and a face shield, then a surgical cap...she’s gonna be sweating bullets...bet the A/C will be on and it will be cold in there.


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## Butterfly (May 27, 2020)

I don't see where any of those policies are out of line.  

After all the dentist is up in your face throughout whatever procedure.  

My teeth and health are more valuable than quibbling about some issue about safety.


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## PopsnTuff (May 27, 2020)

Won't let anyone that close to my face anymore, now and forever.


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## win231 (May 27, 2020)

What??  No blood test for Corona antibodies?


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## hollydolly (May 27, 2020)

Butterfly said:


> I don't see where any of those policies are out of line.
> 
> After all the dentist is up in your face throughout whatever procedure.
> 
> My teeth and health are more valuable than quibbling about some issue about safety.


I agree... and tbh I think the dental surgery is going to be  a very safe place to go with those procedures in place , the dental team don't want to be catching anything from us either so I would feel safe going there ..

My dental surgery has their own car park, but there are many surgeries which are situated in town centres here,  who have no parking at all of their own, and patients have to park in the nearest public car park and walk... so the bit about staying in the car till they come to take your temperature,  will not and could not ,  apply to many dental surgeries here  it would be impossible to implement


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## CeeCee (May 27, 2020)

Just talked to my daughter and she says that is pretty much their protocol also...with a few differences...they spent $60,000 on a sanitation filter that’s a little better than the Hepa...they don’t do the rinse, only because it hasn’t been proven but there’s no harm in doing it..just might not be effective.

As for the price of the  PPE....she said their surgical masks used to cost 10 cents a piece, now they are $1.

The dentist and the hygienist are more at risk than the patient...theyll be covered from head to toe and you’ll be laying there with your open unmasked mouth.


edit:  sorry, I got a little bent out of shape in the last sentence.....I understand your concerns....I have them with my opthamologist and the email I got from him doesn’t say one thing about any precautions....and it’s my yearly big exam, so my eyes will be pressed on every machine in the office....all the tests.


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## jujube (May 27, 2020)

I'm having eye surgery again tomorrow and they're being verrrry verrry careful about everything.  I can't bring anything inside with me. I have to wear protective gear. The Spousal Equivalent has to wait out in the car, instead of inside for the whole three hours.  They'll call him to drive up to the door to get me.


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## Ronni (May 27, 2020)

One of my dear friends is a dentist and she has similar protocols in place. One difference is that the patients are not waiting in the waiting room, they are waiting in designated parking space in the lot until the last patient clears the building, then they are escorted in.  

There is required oversight for Doctors of Dentistry and their clinics.  Each State has a Board of Dentistry which body has mandated many of the protocols and screening procedures that Dentists offices have in place.


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## hollydolly (May 27, 2020)

jujube said:


> I'm having eye surgery again tomorrow and they're being verrrry verrry careful about everything.  I can't bring anything inside with me. I have to wear protective gear. The Spousal Equivalent has to wait out in the car, instead of inside for the whole three hours.  They'll call him to drive up to the door to get me.


 Wishing you lots of luck with the eye surgery tomorrow Jujube..


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## Pinky (May 27, 2020)

hollydolly said:


> Wishing you lots of luck with the eye surgery tomorrow Jujube..


Me too, Jujube


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## CeeCee (May 27, 2020)

Me three!

You are braver than I am...I panic with just the exam.  I know he’s gonna mention my cataracts.


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## Fyrefox (May 29, 2020)

I’ve heard that the costs of additional protective gear at the dentist’s is likely to be passed onto the patients, as much of it is one-time use only...so your wallet like your teeth will get a cleaning, although I understand the need for the measures.


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## debodun (May 29, 2020)

They did not specify how much. To them "nominal" might be $50, to me $5.


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## Kaila (May 29, 2020)

Despite that it is a long-seeming list, in the OP,
I actually, personally, like how they did specify the details, so that
You can think about them ahead of time, and know what they/the office, is and is not doing.

Thanks for posting it, Deb.

I dislike the general statements, all the places that are open have been making, such as:
"We are taking...precautions to protect you and our staff."


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## Manatee (May 29, 2020)

That is largely what I experienced last week.
The chairs in the waiting room were turned facing the wall.
When I drove my wife to the doctor's office it was much the same.
I brought a magazine to read while waiting in the car.  Patient only allowed inside.


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## moviequeen1 (May 29, 2020)

I've been going to my dentist over 30 yrs,his office has been closed since mid March,taking  emergency cases only Mon,Tues&Fri
I called him Mon explained my emergency{ a filling was lose} any way I could see him this week
My appt was at 10 this morning,waited 5 min in waiting room,it was only him.I wore my mask he was all cover up as usual,he fixed my problem made my day


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## CeeCee (Jun 5, 2020)

This is my daughter the dentist and what she has to wear working in Monterey, CA.

She doesn’t wear glasses, those are eye protection.


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## CeeCee (Jun 5, 2020)

She’s wearing 2 masks,so the  bottom one can be used a couple times while the top one and her gown are thrown away after each use.


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## Kaila (Jun 5, 2020)

That can't be how she had pictured doing her job and relating to helping patients, when she was training for that career, @CeeCee
but it looks like good protection for her, now, that you and her patients would want for her to have.

I would like for my dentist to do the same, and it would make me feel more confident that the office isn't just paying lip service, to "taking the precautions needed" .....


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