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COVID-19: An Update on Our Policies and Procedures

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Dr. Varley and our team at Stonebrook Family Dental want to provide you with exceptional dental care, and your safety is our top priority. We have studied guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the American Dental Association (ADA), the Colorado Department of Public Health, and more to fully prepare on how to best keep our patients safe. If you have had to miss your dental appointments due to COVID-19, consider rescheduling them now. Learn about our updated protocols in place to keep you safe. 

New Safety Protocols 

As always, patient safety and public health continues to be our top priority here at Stonebrook Family Dental. Our new safety protocols now include: 

  1. We will screen our staff daily to make sure our staff are healthy. Our staff will wear recommended and appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), as such materials are available during the crisis.
  2. We will screen patients before entrance to the office. We will use a forehead thermometer to check patients and essential family.  Patients will be screened to inquire about COVID symptoms, contact with infected individuals and travel or other risks of COVID-19 infections.
  3. All patients and accompanying parent/caregiver must wear masks while in our office (patients will remove masks as needed for treatment).
  4. We must minimize the number of people visiting the office during this time.  Adult patients must attend appointments alone.  Minors and patients with special needs may be accompanied by ONE parent/caregiver. ADA guidelines recommend parents and other family members remain in the car during appointments.  Safe distancing practices will be observed in the office.
  5. When patients arrive in the parking lot, please call us at (303) 872-7907 to check-in.  We will advise when the office is ready for the patient to come in for the appointment.
  6. We will stagger the seating of patients to keep them separated in physical distance. After appointments, we will then disinfect the entire room.
  7. We will stagger the timing of patient scheduling to increase separation. This will reduce the number of patients and essential family members in the office at any given time.  Adult patients may enter the office alone; minors/special needs may be accompanied by one adult.
  8. Patients will not have the opportunity to brush teeth in our office, in order to reduce infection risks.  We ask patients to brush their teeth before coming to their appointments.

What Else Are You Doing?

Furthermore, for your protection, we have removed all of our upholstered chairs and replaced them with solid surface furniture that we can disinfect after use. We removed magazines, books and toys from the reception area to reduce the risk of infection transmission. We will attempt to disinfect all areas of the office where patients (and accompanying parents) will visit us.

CDC Guidelines for Dental Practices

Dental settings are one-of-a-kind settings that warrant specific infection control considerations, according to the CDC. First and foremost, that means prioritizing critical dental services and providing care that will minimize harm to patients from delaying care and harm to our staff from potential risk of exposure to COVID-19. 

As the CDC recommends, we also encourage our team members and patients to stay home if they’re feeling sick. The CDC reports the most updated list of symptoms of COVID-19 to be:

  • Fever or chills
  • Cough
  • Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
  • Fatigue
  • Muscle or body aches
  • Headache
  • New loss of taste or smell
  • Sore throat
  • Congestion or runny nose
  • Nausea or vomiting
  • Diarrhea 

Further Precautions 

Here at Stonebrook Family Dental, we work hard to keep our office and people safe. We will continue to stay informed regularly with our state and local health departments with what is going on in our area. We will continuously provide care in the safest way we can. 

What You Can Expect

The ADA has released the following information to give you a glimpse of what your next dentist appointment might look like during COVID-19:

  • Before your appointment: your dental office may call to ask you about your current health status, but be prepared to answer these questions again when you arrive at your appointment. 
  • At your appointment: you will more than likely be required to wear a mask in our office unless your treatment is happening. You might also be asked to wait in your car until they’re ready for you to come in to reduce the amount of people in the office. You will also notice many new protective protocols in place to best keep your dental team and yourself safe. 
  • After your appointment: all surfaces touched by you the patient will be thoroughly disinfected to prepare for the next patient. If you begin to feel ill within 14 days of your dental appointment, you will need to let your dental office know because you could have been carrying the virus at the time of your appointment. If that was the case, anyone who came into contact with you was exposed and is now at risk of getting sick too. 

Call Stonebrook Family Dental to Learn More

Your trips to the dentist office are critical to your overall health, even during COVID-19. If you are still anxious about coming into our office, call our team to learn more about what we’re doing to ensure your safety: (303)-872-7907.

 

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