Hello patients, friends, and family!
Oh, how we have missed you! We are so thankful for your understanding, patience, and support throughout this pandemic.
We appreciate your understanding as we have limited our dental care to only emergency visits since the middle of March. However, now that our safeguards are in place and personal protective equipment is becoming more available, we are ready to fully reopen our practice!
We want to be able to provide the proper care for all of our patients, so it is time for us to be available to all of you! We care deeply for the health and safety of our team members and our patients. After all, we need a strong team and family to be able to remain healthy to care for you. We are implementing several new measures to provide the safest environment for anyone that we come in contact with. Here is our plan with re-opening the office:
- We are beginning to see all treatments on May 11th. Our hours will remain the same as they always are, however, we have team members that will work additional hours to keep up with patient demand to help make up for missed appointments. Thank you team!
- We have already begun rescheduling patients. We have attempted to reschedule patients according to when their appointments were originally canceled. Therefore, the patients that are most overdue for their regular visit will be called first. We understand that there are still more patients to schedule and we appreciate your patience with us as we accomplish this. If you would like to schedule, please text or call the office at (314) 487-0333 or email home@oakdc.com, and we will do our best to find time for your next visit. Our phones will be busy, so sometimes email or text is the easiest method to reach us. Know that we will get back to you as quickly as we can!
- We are excited to let you know about our additional safety measures:
- Temperature checks and CoVID release forms will be completed as you enter the building, as well as having a hand sanitizer station at the entrance. We request that anyone entering the building wear a mask/face covering when in the common areas. We can’t clean your teeth with a mask on though! All of our team members will have their temperatures taken when they enter the building, as well.
- Air Filtration: we have added the iWave bipolar ionization system to our air handlers, so we will purify any air that is pulled into the HVAC system. We also added multiple mobile air filtration units called Surgically Clean Air, which we have strategically placed around the office. These units use electron cell filtration, which filters particles even 10 times smaller than the coronavirus. This will turn over the air in between every visit so we can provide the cleanest air possible (next to pure oxygen!)
- Safety Glass at the Front Office: to keep our patients and team members safe at check out.
- Our team members may look different! All of our team members will be equipped with N95 masks, face shields for aerosol procedures, and surgical caps – these are mainly for our team member’s safety due to patient to patient contact. We have the Isodry isolation system in all operatories now (we previously had them only in the doctor operatories). This is a soft mouthpiece that rests in your mouth that collects all aerosols right away during restorative work or cleanings. You’ve heard in the media that dentistry is one of the highest risk professions for infectious diseases – this is actually more of a risk to our employees – not to our patients. We’ve always followed CDC, OSHA, and MO State infection control guidelines, so the current pandemic isn’t that different on how we operate on a day to day basis for infection control. Our biggest concern is having the proper personal protective equipment and disinfectants available to do our jobs (and making sure the hospitals had enough equipment to do their job). And we’re fully equipped now!
- We have socially distanced our reception area and have moved to a “Parking Lot Reception Area” for the near future. We need to limit patients in the office while they are not being treated. We are requesting our patients TEXT our office at 314-487-0333 when you arrive. Please only bring yourself to the visit, or a driver/parent/guardian for those who require one. We request the driver/parent/guardian remain outside the building or in your car during treatment of the patient. Exceptions can be allowed, however, we request that only the patient be in the operatory during treatment. Once your room is ready, we will text you back to enter into the office. Then we will take a non-contact forehead temperature and go over informed consent with all who enter the office, ask you to sanitize your hands, and then we can begin treatment. We’ve typically used a pre-rinse before visits at the office. We’ve switched to a 1.5% Hydrogen Peroxide rinse called Crest Peroxyl – this can kill any virus microbes that may be present in your mouth. We will provide this pre-rinse at the start of all visits.
- We have a request of all our patients: if you or your child has a fever or has been in contact with a sick person in the last 2 weeks, please stay home and call to reschedule. We can see you again once you have been fever or symptom-free for 2 weeks and have not been in contact with anyone who was sick or CoVID positive within the last 2 weeks. If you are CoVID positive, please talk with your doctor or the state health department on when they will allow your quarantine to be removed.
- Our last request: please tell your family and friends about us! Even though we have been limiting treatment, there are always others who need care. We are always accepting new patients, 5 star google reviews, and our referral program is still in place. Thank you for your care, support, patience, and loyalty with us throughout the years!
Thank you for allowing us to provide you dental care with a smile. Oakville Dental CARES!
Drs. Sindelar, Guilfoy, Azar, and the entire team at Oakville Dental Care