The staff at Adams and Cheek Dentistry understands our patients have reservations about keeping routine and restorative dental visits during the Covid-19 pandemic. We want to instill confidence in our patients when it comes to safety at their dental appointments. We have multiple new protocols in place to ensure that patients can receive preventative and restorative care, while still protecting their health.
To start, the entire staff wears masks all day. We also ask our patients to wear their masks upon arrival and at departure from their appointments. The only time our patients remove their masks is after they are settled in their rooms and ready to begin their appointments. Our staff also takes our temperatures upon entering the building. If any staff member has any symptoms that could be related to Covid, that person does not come to work under any circumstances. Additionally, at the start of the pandemic our office received extensive training with OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration). We complete OSHA training annually. However, this year our training was modified to adhere to new protocols put in place as a response to Covid-19.
Here is what to expect when arriving for any appointment at our office
- Upon arrival, we ask patients to stay in their vehicle and call our office. Our front desk staff will then instruct you to either enter the building or to wait in your car. We won’t ask you to enter until the waiting room has cleared or your team member is ready for you.
- After entering the building, we will ask you to fill out a Covid-19 screening form and we will then take your temperature.
- When the screening is complete, you either wait in an area of the waiting room all to yourself or we immediately take you back to your room.
During your appointment
- When you reach your room, we ask that you remove your mask and place with your belongings. You will wash your hands at the sink and then rinse your mouth with an oral rinse of hydrogen peroxide and Listerine. Hydrogen peroxide reduces the presence of the virus in the oral cavity.
- Your provider will wear proper PPE (personal protective equipment) as advised by the American Dental Association and OSHA.
- At the conclusion of your appointment, we ask that you wash your hands again prior to leaving your treatment room. Your provider will walk you to the front desk to check out where you will be socially distant from any other patients also on their way out.
Sterilization
- Each roomed is cleaned with disinfecting spray and wipes that are tuberculocidal, bactericidal, virucidal, and fungicidal. This means, the disinfectant kills Mycobacterium tuberculosis, bacteria, viruses (including Covid-19), and fungi.
- As always, our instruments go through a rigorous sterilization process. They are first put in an ultrasonic cleaner that uses high frequency pressure waves to agitate a liquid bath. The agitation produces high forces on contaminants adhering to the instruments.
- Following the ultrasonic cleaner, the instruments are wrapped in sterilization paper and placed in an autoclave at 270 degrees for 30 minutes. An autoclave is a steam sterilizer. The autoclave uses heat to kill bacteria and spores through pressurized steam.
At Adams and Cheek Dentistry, the health of our patients is always a priority. If you have any questions about our Covid-19 protocols please do not hesitate to contact us. You may reach us by calling 919.866.1360 or by clicking here to contact us online.
