COVID-19
Dear Patients:
Your safety is our priority!
At East Hills Endodontic, your safety is our primary concern. We focus not just on the latest endodontic technology, but, behind the scenes, also on infection control protocols and technology to keep our patients and our team safe. This includes regular training and emergency medical drills and, yes, regular review of our Infection Control Practices.
We value the trust you show in our office and want to reassure all of our patients that we comply and often exceed the guidelines for sterilization and patient protection from the American Dental Association. Our philosophy has always been and will always be “to treat our patients just as if they are our family members.” With Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) taking over the headlines and causing concerns globally and locally, I’d like to share with you the different protocols we employ at our office on an every day to day basis, regardless of what new disease developments may be present in the world around us.
- Our office utilizes state-of-the-art, hospital-grade autoclaving units to sterilize our instruments. The process utilizes steam pressure to kill bacteria and viruses. If an item cannot withstand the heat and pressure of autoclaving, we will only use a disposable form of that item. All of our disposable items are used once and then immediately discarded. We do not under any circumstances attempt to reuse any disposable item.
- For sterilization to be effective, all of our instruments are first washed and sanitized by hand then placed in our instrument washer prior to autoclaving. Once the 25-minute wash cycle has been completed, the instruments are then placed in the autoclave .
- Our dental handpieces (“drills”) are also hand-washed, flushed out and lubricated prior to being placed in the autoclave.
- Sterilization of our instruments is verified with a sterilization integrator in addition to weekly spore testing utilizing a third-party testing lab. Each week, we submit a test to a monitoring service to verify the effectiveness of our autoclave.
- Each of our dental units (chairs) is equipped with a closed water bottle-system. We do not utilize the local water supply. These closed “water bottle systems” allow us to treat and flush the units clean to prevent the build-up of potentially dangerous biofilms between patients. We only use verified distilled water from a third-party company in all of our dental waterlines.
- Our treatment rooms are sanitized after each and every patient regardless of what the procedure may have been or how long the patient has been in the chair. Before you enter our treatment and hygiene rooms, all surfaces, including the dental chair, dental light, drawer and all nearby handles, x-ray units, computer and mouse, and all countertops have been cleaned, decontaminated and fresh new disposable barriers placed.
- All our dental team members involved with patient care always wash their hands before and after every patient procedure and use only fresh gloves.
- All public spaces and all countertops in the waiting area are disinfected and cleaned on a daily basis.
- Our front desk team is well versed in screening patients when confirming appointments. Any patient who reports a recent history of cold/flu symptoms or a fever is always asked to reschedule their appointment in consideration of the health of other patients and the staff.
Due to the recent public health concerns involving the Coronavirus, we at East Hills Endodontics are monitoring information from the news as well as from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and local officials regarding the spread of COVID-19. We would like to emphasize however, that the above outline regarding our daily infection control protocols has not changed and has been in use since the inception of our office. The safety of our patients and staff is always our top priority. As such, our office’s infection control and prevention protocols allow us to ensure continued patient safety regardless of what current or future public health concerns may arise without disrupting our standard of care or the experience our patients are used to receiving. The best defense against disease is information. The more you know, the better equipped you are to make wise decisions regarding your health care. The more you know about our daily procedures and policies, the more comfortable you will feel not only during these concerning times, but hopefully at all future appointments. Our goal is not only to provide you with the highest level of treatment available but to also ensure a safe and comfortable environment to receive your endodontic care.
Sincerely,
The Team at East Hills Endodontic