Covid-19 Update

April 28, 2020

To all my patients,

Needless for me to say, the last weeks have been a very difficult and uncertain time for everyone. Some have faced illness and recovery and worse, very sadly, we have lost some friends. It has taken a lot of effort on everyone's part to try to turn the situation around and, thank the Lord, it seems to be working. While the Coronavirus is most likely going to be with us for a while, all the numbers seem to indicate that we are on the downhill side of it. Some of you have had dental needs that we have asked you to postpone and we appreciate your willingness to do so. Shortly, we will be contacting those of you whose appointments we had to cancel or who have called during the closure with dental problems to schedule appointments. We are developing a list of things to protect our patients and staff for when we do reopen the office and we we feel certain that a lot of the steps we will be taking you have already become very familiar with. The following are things that we feel will continue to keep everyone safe during their time in the office.

Prior to your appointment:

If you have been running a fever, having difficulty breathing, dry cough, chills and/or sweats, fatigue, or if you have been out of the country in the last 14 days or been in close contact with another person who has been diagnosed with Covid-19, we will ask that you allow us to reschedule your appointment.

When you arrive for an appointment:

We ask that you call us from your car to let us know you are here. We will meet you at the door to take your temperature. If you have a fever that is over 100, we will ask that you let us reschedule your appointment.

We will be minimizing the number of people in the office at one time and, hopefully, there will not be a need for anyone to sit in the reception room. 

We are asking that only the patient come for the appointment, however, if the patient needs assistance, only one person should come inside with them. 

There will be hand sanitizer available as you enter the office for your use. There are also tissues available for you to use when leaving the office to open the door.

While you are in the office, for your safety, we ask that you touch as few items as possible.

Staff:

You may find that the staff looks a little, possibly a lot, different than previously. We will be using higher filtration level masks, and also using full face shields. This may make communication slightly more difficult but we are good at repeating ourselves.

We know some of these steps may be an inconvenience, however, following them will help stop potential spread of the Coronavirus. We also know that in the end we want to err on the side of safety and that you will understand.

Yours in the Interest of Excellence and Safe Dental Care,

Dr. Sherry A Gates 

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