Dear Patients and Friends of Prescott Family Dentistry. I would first like to thank you all for your patience and understanding in these unprecedented times. As you all know the coronavirus has changed the way that we live. During this time we followed delayed guidelines from the ADA and the SCDA to close all operations except for emergency patients only. We have also been keeping records of all canceled appointments to reschedule, seen emergency patients, have been incorporating COIVD-19 protocols to keep patients and employees safe, and have been looking to acquire all of the required PPE to be able to safely restart operations. The latter of these has been the most challenging. After several failed attempts with orders falling through, we have finally found the required protective equipment and will begin seeing routine patients with adjusted schedules and protocols. Because of the risks involved with seeing patients in a dental setting during this time these protocols will not be adjusted for anyone for any reason. As we continue to learn more about the coronavirus these protocols may change.
- Only patients being seen or guardians of patients that need assistance, including young children, will be allowed in the office or in the operatories. Normally we allow patients to bring all of their children even if the parent is getting a cleaning, we will not be able to accommodate this at this time. All escorts will be required to wait in the car unless you are needed in the operatory.
- A questionnaire will be filled out about your health history regarding the coronavirus to determine if you can be seen.
- Patients will be required to swish with listerine or another antiseptic before treatment (provided by the office)
- Temperature will be taken with a contact free thermometer.
- We can refuse to see any patients that pose a risk to the health of our staff or other patients.
We have taken the proper steps to reduce chances of transmission including gowns, KN95 masks, face shields, and other appropriate PPE. We have also installed the iwave needlepoint bipolar ionization generator in the HVAC to kill viruses and bacteria that may be released during treatment. If you do not feel comfortable keeping your appointment at this time our staff will be happy to reschedule you. We have done everything we can to mitigate the effects of the pandemic to keep our staff and patients as safe as possible.
We will begin calling all patients that were canceled or postponed to get you rescheduled. We do have a backlog of patients because of the shutdown so we ask you to please be patient as we work to get everyone back on schedule. Again, we thank you for your understanding and look forward to seeing you all again soon.
