The time has come! The Chief Medical Officer of Health for Ontario has recommended the gradual restart of health care services, including all dental services.
Thank you for your patience, we truly understand how difficult it has been to wait for necessary dental care. We are very excited to be able to return to providing safe, quality oral care for our patients. Your health and safety and that of our staff will continue to guide our protocols during the transition as we reopen our doors.
What do you need to do?
- At this time, all dental appointments can now be rescheduled.
- If you had an appointment that was canceled during the state of emergency, we will be reaching out to rebook.
- If you think you have a dental emergency, call or text us at 905-526-9015 to request an appointment.
- Do not go to a hospital emergency room for a dental problem, contact us instead.
- Practicing good dental hygiene and following healthy lifestyle habits continues to be more important than ever.
- Please continue to be patient as we prioritize treating patients with urgent needs.
- Expect that the current new protocols will add time to your check in and processing.
What can you expect when you return?
- You will be screened for COVID-19 symptoms by telephone when you book your appointment.
- If you have any symptoms of COVID-19 including a fever or new cough, sore throat or difficulty breathing, please contact us in advance to let us know and do not come in for your scheduled dental appointment.
- Please advise us in advance if you have been in contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 or has symptoms of COVID-19; do not come in for your appointment.
- Please bring and wear your own social distancing mask when entering the dental office.
- You will be asked to come alone to minimize the number of people in the clinic at once.
- You will be asked to arrive at your appointment 15 minutes early to complete necessary screening and forms.
- Appointments will be staggered to maintain social distancing between patients; please wait in the parking lot until you receive a text informing you to come into the office.
- You will be screened for COVID-19 symptoms when you arrive for your appointment.
- In order to maintain social distancing, the waiting room will be used minimally, and you may be taken straight into the operatory upon arrival.
- You will be asked to sanitize your hands upon arrival and departure.
- Check out procedures will be stream-lined to minimize social and physical contact.
- You will receive a 14 day follow up message asking if you have experienced any COVID-19 symptoms since your dental appointment.
- We will be reviewing and updating protocols regularly during this time to keep you safe and minimize risk while performing necessary dental treatment.
What have we been doing to protect you for your return to our dental office?
- Your health and safety and that of our staff is our primary concern.
- Our practice undertakes industry best-in-class infection prevention and control measures, and we are confident that with sufficient protective measures in place, our dental practice represents a safe and low-risk environment for our patients.
- We will continue to follow IPAC guidelines for infection control; as always, we wear PPE consisting of gloves, masks, face shields, eye protection and gowns as appropriate.
- We are actively sourcing and procuring all necessary PPE for our staff to be able to safely treat you on an ongoing basis.
- All our staff self screen for COVID-19 on a daily basis before coming to the dental office to serve you.
- We have placed conveniently located hand sanitizer in key areas.
- We have installed barriers at our reception desk to minimize the risk of transmission of airborne pathogens.
- We have installed a specialized 2 part dental air filtration system: an air cleaning system to help eliminate dental office contaminants such as bacteria, viruses, VOCs, disinfectant odors and mercury vapors; and an at source suction system with activated carbon filter, super-HEPA particle filter capable of capturing particles down to 0.1 microns at 99.99% effectiveness, a UV lamp to destroy airborne bacteria and viruses and a 3” flexible capture hose.
- We have automated entry doors into the office to enhance infection control and accessibility.
- We have removed all magazines and toys from the reception area and replaced them with an educational and entertaining TV system.
- Our team has been meeting remotely on Zoom; we have optimized this mandated time-out by completing continuing education webinars relating to infection control procedures specific to COVID-19 as well as enhancing and upgrading our knowledge in general dentistry.
We support:
We have been grateful for the support and kind messages from all of you over the last few months and look forward to seeing everyone in the dental office again soon.
IMPORTANT: If you are infected with COVID-19 or think you may have been infected, please contact us in advance so we can instruct you on how to proceed for the safety of all.
We are here for you, as always.