We were able to get most of our staff back to work last week to take care of some more urgent cases, but this week, the trades are working on the office air filtration again. They’ve promised me that they’ll be done by Friday. Fingers crossed!
Starting up everything is very challenging when we are also trying to follow guidelines for social distancing. For those patients that had pre-booked their recall appointments, we are making changes to the time booked so that we can attempt to lessen the traffic in the reception area and to give us more time for turnover of the treatment rooms. There are now only 2 seats available in the reception area, so please do not come too early and don’t bring anyone else with you that doesn’t have an appointment.
Before you arrive to the office, we should have been in contact with you to confirm. We have a consent form for you to sign to acknowledge that you understand that we cannot fully socially distance while doing dentistry. Please bring a mask with you to wear as you enter the office. If the reception area is full, wait outside until the room clears. Before we seat you into the treatment rooms, we will take your temperature. After you are seated, we will have you rinse with a 1% peroxide solution before we start our procedure.
We have always followed the CDSBC guidelines for Infection Control, but we are now spending more time wiping down areas of high contact. We are advised to not have a washroom available, but we understand that nature always has its own schedule and cannot wait sometimes. It takes more time for us to have to disinfect a bathroom after every use, so be aware that we are doing our best given the situation.
Which leads me to my next thought: Let’s all remember to be kind. There will be more challenges identified as we get up to speed again. I’ve told everyone that we expect to make mistakes, and that it’s okay, but we will learn from the mistakes and make it better. If you encounter someone else in the office and not following the distancing, be patient with them. Let’s all try to be understanding of each other.
All of us at Fairview Dental look forward to seeing you again soon!
