Dear Patients,

First of all, we hope you and your family are in good health.  All of us look forward to when we can return to our former way of life.  We are resuming regular care on June 1.  You will see some changes to our office routines that we think will help keep patients and dental personnel protected during your visits.

For the length of my career, you have seen efforts we make towards infection control:  clean disinfected surfaces, disposable coverings, single patient use supplies, and state-of-the-art instrument sterilization.  We have adhered to infection control guidelines made by the American Dental Association (ADA), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and OSHA.  These measures will, of course, continue to be followed.  You will also see some new protocols that we think will help protect our patients and staff.  For example:

1. Our office will communicate with you beforehand to ask some screening questions. You’ll be asked those same questions again when you are in the office.
2. We have hand sanitizer that we will ask you to use when you enter the office. You will also find some in other places in the office for you to use as needed.
3. You may see that our waiting room will no longer offer magazines, children’s books and toys since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect.
4. There will be fewer chairs in the reception area to allow social distancing. There will also be some chairs and benches in the hallway if you prefer to wait there.  You could even wait in your car and be summoned by your mobile phone when we are ready to provide your treatment.
5. We will take patient (and our own) temperatures as a routine screening measure.
6. We will endeavor to schedule patient appointments in a manner that doesn’t put too many patients in the office at one time. We ask that you don’t bring other people (without appointments) into our office unless it is necessary.
7. We will be alert to any new information that comes to light that can improve these protocols and procedures.

A consequence of the measures that must be taken to provide safer dentistry during a Pandemic is an increased need for personal protective supplies.  Due to shortages and high demand, we will see increases in our cost of delivering care.  You will see a nominal increase in your fees that may not be covered by your insurance carrier.

We are happy to try to answer any questions you have that pertain to your safety.  I want you also to know that I respect your decisions to have routine dental procedures or not to, if you feel uncomfortable with the exposure inherent in this type of activity.  For those of you in higher “risk” categories, it may be prudent to limit elective treatment at this time.

We appreciate the trust and loyalty you grant us by choosing to be our patients.  We look forward to welcoming back our patients, neighbors, and friends.

Sincerely,

Dr. McCoy and Dr. Sessions