In March, the healthcare community was alerted to an extremely high level of Covid-19 infections in Washington State and around the globe. Through our combined efforts, the health care community and the citizens of Washington did an amazing job in flattening the infection curve. The level of Covid -19 infections are currently much lower and we are now ready to enter phase two of recovery according to our Governor and the CDC.
Our goal here at Essence of Dentistry has always been to provide a very safe place for our patients and our staff. During the past two months of quarantine our staff has attended several online educational courses and training seminars to prepare us for the gradual reentry into patient care. As a team we have decided to go above and beyond the current CDC guidelines for safe dental care services. In addition to the CDC guidelines, we will be implementing protocols that are being used in other countries that are two months ahead of us in their efforts to contain the Covid -19 infection including Korea and Taiwan. These countries have gradually returning to providing urgent and non-urgent health care to their citizens and we are learning from their successes.
For the last 15 years we have followed a high standard of modern infection control and are very proud of our efforts. Despite our exceptional standards we are investing in several new protocols and precautions. In brief, we are implementing continuing comprehensive training for our team in infection control, the best professional grade PPE available to protect our staff and our patients, new air purifier and suction equipment to control aerosols, safe electrolyzed sanitizing sprays which are more potent than bleach and management of patient flow to minimize exposure to our staff and patients. As a team, we chose to get tested for Covid-19 and the results came back negative. We will also be performing continued staff monitoring, regular temperature scans, and frequent oral antiseptic rinses. We are considering adding other testing services to our staff and patients as they become available.
Last but not least, we understand that it will take some time before a reliable vaccine and treatments are available. We believe that oral health is extremely important in the overall health of our patients. We know that oral disease is a contributor to multiple health problems. Periodontal disease is linked to chronic diseases such as Alzheimer's, diabetes, and coronary artery disease. Oral infections can compromise our immune systems and can be life threatening as well. Because we know that oral health translates to overall health we want to encourage our patients to continue in their dental care with our office at this time.
We have chosen to see this challenge as an opportunity to grow and strengthen together, thus bringing a sense of hope. “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” - Victor Frankl
TEAM OF ESSENCE OF DENTISTRY
