Hopefully everyone is staying safe at home during this pandemic. I know I am starting to go crazy staying at home, but I know it’s for the benefit of everyone that we do our part during this crisis.

In that light, once we do get back to what will be the new normal, potentially May 19, 2020, you will notice some changes that are necessary to protect us all. Based on guidelines from the CDC, as well as the ADA and CDA, we will be instituting some changes at the office.

Starting with phone calls to the office, we will be asking screening questions to determine your health status and recent health history. Based on that information, we can determine the next step in treatment. On the day of your appointment, to help with social distancing, it will be necessary for you to wait in your car and call us on your cell phone to alert us that you have arrived. Once we are ready for you, we will call you back on your cell phone in your car. In this way, we can insure your safety by not having everyone congregate in the reception room. You will need to bring a personal mask and wear it once you are in our office waiting for treatment, and again after your treatment is complete. As an extra precaution, we will be taking your temperature with a touchless gun thermometer once you are in the office.

Once in the treatment room, we will have you pre-rinse your mouth to help decrease the bacterial load. We will also modify procedures to limit the spread of aerosols created during treatment. The treatment rooms have been stripped of any unnecessary items on the counters. So it may look a little barren in there!

Once treatment has been completed and it’s time to check out, we will also try to prevent bottlenecks at the front desk. We will schedule future appointments in the treatment rooms and take payments there as well.

I know all this seems a little strange, but we are living through a difficult time in our world. These are some of the things as of this moment we will be instituting. As with everything associated with this pandemic, regulations and procedures may change as more is known about the virus and how to control it.

We as Californians have been the first to step up to the plate and accept the challenges this virus brought to our daily lives. I am looking forward to the day when all of this is over. Until then, remember we are in this together, and eventually….this too shall pass!