Safety Measures
Dentist in Burlington
Our priority as your dental care provider has always been to preserve and protect your health and safety as well as your smile. As usual, we continue to monitor all guidelines set forth by OSHA, OSAP, CDC, NIH, and the ADA in order to provide a clean, and safe environment in which to protect your health, both oral and otherwise.
Among our precautionary measures we include…
Hand Hygiene for our patients
We noticed that some patients instinctively put their fingers in their mouth when pointing to an area at issue or showing us something. In order to prevent any inadvertent transmission or introduction of germs, we are reminding patients to wash their hands in the treatment room just before being seated. The faucets are touch free as well. They always have been! We will show you how they work!
Hand Hygiene for staff
Proper handwashing is one of the most important measures our team takes to prevent the spread of infection as well. For routine dental exams and nonsurgical procedures, we wash thoroughly with water and hand soap before putting on our gloves. Additionally, everything handed to you will be touch free making the use of gloves or other barriers.
Antiseptic Pre-rinse:
You will notice that after your handwashing, we will give you 2 different antiseptic solutions to swish with for 30 seconds each. Per the ADA, the coronavirus is vulnerable to oxidation, which is what Peroxide does. So the first rinse will be a diluted Peroxide. The second rinse is derived from a pre-surgical scrub that is used by surgeons prior to surgery: Chlorhexidine gluconate. It also has the ability to adhere to protein in the mouth for about 8 hours. These 2 rinses will decrease the number of germs in the mouth and thus also reduce the number of germs vaporized into the air.
Air quality and exchange
We have installed a bipolar ionizing iwave-C purifier that kills mold, bacteria and viruses by introducing a hydrogen ion. It also reduces any allergens in the air. For more information on what we have installed, check out www.iwaveair.com.
Also, we have been able to create treatment room conditions that keep the air INSIDE that room during treatment (negative pressure). That way, aerosol (spit droplets generated when talking or during treatment) stays contained and gets sucked out the filtered air return. That air then goes to the iwave-C which also removes other airborne particles for better air quality.
Another feature we are introducing, is a suction unit positioned outside your mouth that removes the droplets of saliva from the air within that treatment room during procedures that create the most splatter.
Finally, for certain procedures, we will be using a dental dam to help minimize the droplets of saliva from your mouth going into the air. We will walk you through that process. Many of our patients have liked the dam, because it prevented the water from the drill from pooling in the throat. It was much more comfortable for most.
Personal Protective Equipment
You will notice some changes in our protective equipment. These are specifically geared to be changed or disinfected between patients, so that no one person is exposed to any other person’s splatter. They are also geared to help staff avoid any splatter on their hair or shoes or skin that they would end up taking home. In this environment of as-of-yet unknown treatment for the novel Coronavirus, we have to step up the safety measures across the board. When you see us dressed differently, please be assured that we are not “afraid of you”, but rather we are controlling and containing any droplets generated from your speech or treatment, and making sure they stay in the room and are not shared with any other area of the office. Once your visit with us is completed, we wait to fully exchange the air in that room, then we disinfect all horizontal surfaces before we deem it ready to invite our next patient in.
Sterilization and Disinfection of Patient-Care Items and Devices
Instruments and equipment used in your care are all regularly sterilized after each use to ensure that your health is maintained. Items such as mirrors as well as items frequently touched or used by patients are all subject to rigorous disinfection with hospital grade disinfectants between patients. We also run weekly spore tests for our sterilization equipment to ensure they continue to work well, and they are certified by the UNC Microbiology testing lab.
Waterline Testing in our Dental Units:
Our team makes use of a water distiller maintained on site for generating fresh distilled water to use in the treatment room areas. The waterline cleanliness is maintained with ICX tablets used for every liter of distilled water. Waterlines are also tested at UNC and have consistently outperformed the recommended levels of cleanliness! We keep all the certificates on hand as well.
Regular Sanitation:
You will notice that we have changed the waiting room. We have removed the magazines, coffee maker and anything that does not need to be laying around. Anything unnecessarily laying around is hard to sanitize and will collect germs and viruses that are airborne. The bare surfaces are easier for us to keep sanitized. We are also disinfecting door handles, bathroom light switches, faucets, pens and clipboards too. We have kept some doors propped open so you don’t have to worry about opening them. All these areas are sanitized on a regular basis by our team with effective cleaning solutions certified to kill viruses. And… lest you should miss your complimentary beverage, we can hand you bottled water!
Thank you for your continued trust and confidence in our team. We have heard so many words of encouragement and praise from many of you! That keeps us going and planning for a brighter, better, safer future. Together, we can overcome these circumstances and continue your path to greater health and even stronger interpersonal bonds of friendship. We look forward to taking care of you at your next appointment and wish you and your family the very best and a positive outlook.
