Orthodontic Office Reopening
We hope this letter finds you and your family in good health. Our community has been through a lot over the last few months, and all of us are looking forward to getting our lives back to normal. While many things have changed, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to your safety.
Infection control has always been a top priority for our practice and you may have seen this during your visits to our office. Our infection control processes are made so that when you receive care, it’s both safe and comfortable. We always use either disposable products or instruments that can be heat sterilized. All hard surfaces, including dental equipment and counter tops, are wiped down with disinfectants at the end of each patient visit. Plastic barriers that cover x-ray, overhead light handles, chair seats cushions are changed after each patient.
Our office follows infection control recommendations made by the American Dental Association (ADA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). We follow the activities of these agencies so that we are up-to-date on any new rulings or guidance that may be issued
As we reopen our orthodontic office you may see a few new things have been added for your protection and ours.
Environmental: Air purification systems have been added throughout our office to help maintain the air clean of bacteria, viruses and allergens. You will also see us wiping down the administrative counters and the reception area throughout the day. Magazines, coffee station, and toys have been removed from the reception room to help facilitate the disinfection routine.
Administrative: We will be pre-screening our patients with a few medical questions the day before their orthodontic appointment.
If you are feeling ill on the day of the appointment, we ask that you reschedule your appointment for a later date.
Please call us on your cell phone when you arrive in our parking lot on the day of your appointment. We will let you know whether or not our clinical team is ready to seat you in the treatment room. This will reduce your time spent in our reception room.
Please ask your friends and relatives to stay in the car rather than coming in with you to our appointment. The exception to this is a parent that needs to accompany a child, or a caregiver that needs to escort a patient
Your temperature will be taken by our administrative team with a “no touch” thermometer and you will also be asked to complete and sign a medical questionnaire on the day of the appointment.
If you have not done so already, we will encourage you to allow us to keep a credit card on file for your account. This will allow you to exit the office more quickly and reduce the need for our team to touch currency, credit cards or personal checks.
Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.
Personal Protection Equipment:
We will ask that you wear a mask (cloth is fine) as you enter and exit our facility.
You will notice that our entire team (clinical and administrative) will be wearing masks.
Our clinical team will be wearing additional protective equipment including face shields, clinical gowns and in many cases, a hair protection cap.
We look forward to seeing you again and are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we take to keep you, and every patient, safe in our practice. Thank you for being our patient. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming back our patients, neighbors and friends. We hope to see you soon! If you don’t already have an appointment please call our office at (626) 239-6272 or visit our website at www.hwangorthodontics.com.
Warmest Regards,
Dr. Kathleen Hwang and Team
