Welcome to Fredericksburg Dental Center, LLC

6/4/20

RE: Covid -19 policy and procedures for Fredericksburg Dental Center, LLC

Hello Everyone,
We hope this letter finds you and your family in good health. Our community has been through a lot over the last few months, and all of us are looking forward to resuming our normal habits and routines. While many things have changed, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to your safety.

Infection control has always been a top priority for our practice and you may have seen this during your visits to our office. Our infection control protocols have always been above and beyond what was mandated by the state and the CDC. I’d like to tell you what we are doing.

Our office follows infection control recommendations made by the American Dental Association (ADA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). We follow the changing guidelines of these agencies so that we are always up-to-date on any new rulings or guidance that may be issued. We do this to make sure that our patients and staff are safe.

Guidelines that we had already been practicing, some newly instated:

• Water entering the office is filtered. At each treatment room, the water is again filtered, and also disinfected before it enters the equipment at the chair. This prevents biologic build up in the water lines.
• Rooms are disinfected after each patient.
• Equipment is either pressure/steam sterilized, or it is replaced after each patient.
• Our scrubs and jackets are laundered by a certified hazmat laundry service.
• Level III surgical masks are used routinely.
• The shoes that we wear in the office, stay in the office. So, contaminants from outdoors are not tracked into the treatment rooms.
• We send our lab work to certified US labs, which follow US guidelines regarding materials used for lab work and how lab work is handled. Lab work is disinfected before it leaves our office, again when it arrives at the lab, and again when it leaves the lab. It arrives to our office in plastic for your safety.
• Vacuum lines are treated with an enzyme to destroy biologic build up in the lines.
• Vacuum effluent water is filtered, and colloidal amalgam waste is scavenged before it leaves the office.
• Checked monthly: medical emergency medications, oxygen delivery system, AED batteries and paddles, pulse-ox function, eye wash station, fire extinguishers, first-aid supplies.
• The entire office is professionally cleaned each week.

 
Not all offices have been doing all of this for their patients.

You may see some changes when it is time for your next appointment. We made these changes to help protect you and our staff in response to COVID-19.

• Our office will communicate with you beforehand to ask some screening questions. You’ll be asked those same questions again when you arrive at the office. Please wear a face covering, and bring your own pen.
• You will notice that we are not using the reception room as a waiting room for the time being. You will be asked to call us from your car when you arrive, and we will meet you at the door. We will have hand sanitizer for you at the screening station when you enter the office.
• Appointments will be scheduled to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.
• We will do our best to allow greater time between patients to reduce waiting times for you, as well as to reduce the number of patients in the office at any one time.
• We have a warm air humidifier at the screening station.
• We have a cough guard at the front desk.
• We are installing a whole-office air purifier.
• Depending on the procedure, we might be wearing disposable jackets/gowns, and/or face shields.

 
This all feels very impersonal. It is exactly the feeling that we at FDC try not to promote. Please understand that this distancing is only temporary. We hope soon to get back to the homey feeling we have always embraced. We look forward to seeing you again and are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we take to keep you, and every patient, safe in our practice. To make an appointment, please call our office at (717) 865-3457 or visit our website at https://www.fredericksburgdent.com/

Thank you for being our patient. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming back our patients, neighbors, and friends.

Sincerely,