Just a friendly reminder as we start to phase back into seeing patients this week!
UPDATE!!
To our valued clients and families of Owatonna Dental Care,
We’ve missed you!!
We are excited to get back to providing you with the best experience you’ve been patiently waiting for! Thank you for your understanding and patience during our closure. Our community has been through a lot over the last few months, and we are looking forward to resuming to a sense of normalcy. 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. We can assure you we have made changes and updates to give the safest treatment we can to keep patients and staff safe.
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 do this to make sure that our infection control procedures are current and adhere to their recommendations.
You may see some changes when it is time for your next appointment. We made these changes to help protect our patients and staff. For example:
• When we schedule your next appointment, our office will ask some screening questions. You’ll be asked those same questions on a screening form again when you are in the office.
• We have hand sanitizer that we will ask you to use when you enter the office. You will also find some in the reception area and other places in the office for you to use as needed.
• You may see that our waiting room will no longer offer magazines, children’s toys and so forth, since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect.
• Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.
• We would ask that if you don’t need to come in the office to wait in your car especially if you are elderly or immunocompromised. However, if your child cannot answer screening questions on their own please come in to do so (12 and under)
• We will be checking temperatures of clients. If you need to accompany your child we will check your temperature as well and we would ask you to please wear a mask into the office
• We are placing partitions in-between the chairs in the main operatory.
• Of course, masks, gloves, shields and disinfection will be part of our protocol.
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 client, safe in our practice. We will be calling to make appointments to eliminate the backlog that we have or you are welcome to call as well at 507-451-2226.
We will be calling clients that have been waiting the longest but if you have a pressing issue we will work you in as soon as possible.
Thank you so much for your patience during this ordeal. Thank you for being our patient. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming back our patients, neighbors and friends.
Sincerely,
Owatonna Dental Care
We are following the ADA and CDC guidelines to stay closed until May 13th. Dental emergencies will be assessed and addressed as needed. All appointments have been cancelled up to this point. A courtesy phone call will be placed to inform patients as well. Stay safe and thank you for your understanding during this time.
In an effort to protect our staff, patients and their families we are limiting procedures to only those with swelling, severe pain and significant trauma. This will also allow us to donate PPE to our local hospital.
If you have an emergency please call our office for further guidance.
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that dental facilities postpone elective procedures, surgeries, and non-urgent dental visits, and prioritize urgent and emergency visits and procedures now and for the coming several weeks. This aligns with the American Dental Association (ADA)’s March 16, 2020 recommendationexternal icon that dentists nationwide postpone elective procedures, as well the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)’s March 19, 2020 guidancepdf iconexternal icon that all non-essential dental exams and procedures be postponed until further notice.”
Dear patients,
The COVID-19 pandemic has evolved significantly and, out of an abundance of caution, we have decided to close Owatonna Dental Care effective immediately in conjunction with the Board of Dentistry and plan to reopen in 2 weeks on Wednesday, April 1st and will assess reopening on a week-to-week basis.
If you have an appointment scheduled from Tuesday, March 17th to Tuesday March 31st, your appointment has been canceled. We will be calling each patient to reschedule.
Our office will be open for emergency care only M-F 8-12.
The health and safety of our patients and team is of the utmost importance to us. We at Owatonna Dental Care, want to do our part in curbing the spread and growth of COVID-19. We wish the best for our community, our patients and their friends and family during this time.
When we reopen on Wednesday, April 1st, we will be following these additional measures to ensure the safety of our patients and team:
1. If patients have traveled outside of the country in the last 14 days please reschedule your visit.
2. If you or someone you cohabitate with exhibits coughing, fever or other signs of respiratory distress please reschedule your visit and get tested for COVID-19.
3. On the day of your scheduled visit, please take your temperature before leaving for your appointment. If it is elevated, over 100 F, please reschedule your visit.
4. If someone is accompanying a patient to the appointment, we kindly request they drop the patient off and return to pick up after the appointment instead of waiting in the waiting room.
5. After check-in at our office we will take your temperature and reschedule if it is over 100 F. We will also give you a pre-procedural rinse to reduce the bacterial and viral load.
As a health care facility we use standard precautions in disinfection and sterilization. In addition to this we will take these extra precautions:
1. Reading materials such as magazines will be removed
2. All non-clinical areas where patients have interaction with staff, such as at the front desk and door handles will be disinfected regularly
3. Any staff member who is ill will stay home
4. We will minimize the use of ultrasonic cleaning instruments when possible to reduce aerosols.
5. We will refrain from unnecessary physical contact and hand-shaking during this time
We appreciate your understanding and look forward to serving your needs both safely and comfortably in the near future. Please feel free to reach out to me directly with any questions at owatonnadentalcare@gofast.am
We want you to have the best smile! Call for an appointment today!
