06/02/2020
IMPORTANT UPDATE
Great news! As of June 5, Nova Scotia’s Minister of Health approved a re-opening of dentistry in Nova Scotia. This allows all dentists to provide both “emergent” and “urgent” services, which is essentially management of pain or processes which will cause harm if left unattended. The criteria of what constitutes emergent and urgent care are outlined by the Provincial Dental Board of Nova Scotia (www.pdbns.ca). Previously patients had to be managed with pain killers and antibiotics only, if possible, to reduce the exposure and spread of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia.
Now that the curve has been flattened, and with increasing knowledge on the safety of providing dental care in such an environment, we can now perform many of the procedures we could do pre-pandemic, with the exception of purely elective care for someone not in pain. If all goes well, then on June 19 we anticipate being permitted to start performing elective treatments as well, including dental implants, elective removal of impacted teeth, bone grafting and so forth.
We are excited to get back to being able to properly serve our patients and referring dentists in a safe and responsible way! Since Citadel Oral & Facial Surgery was one of only 8 approved emergency dental clinics during height of the pandemic, rest assured we are already comfortable and have the facility, equipment, training and experience to be able to safely manage our patients’ complex oral health needs in a safe and effective manner during this recovery phase.
WHAT TO EXPECT
To increase the safety for you and for our doctors and staff we kindly request you fill in some information on-line to minimize both time and physical contact in our offices. Please see and click on our health questionnaire link above to fill in your information before coming to your appointment. This also includes a COVID-19 acknowledgement form which outlines the unique risks of receiving treatment during this pandemic. Please initial all appropriate areas on these forms.
Before your appointment is made and again before you come into the office, some information will be gathered by phone and you will be asked some screening questions related to your risk of having or being exposed to COVID-19, and also whether you may be in a group of patients considered to be at a higher risk of suffering ill effects from COVID, where we may wish to take even further precautions for your safety.
If you have a mask, we ask that you wear it for your visit. When you arrive for your appointment, before coming in to our office, you will call our desk at 902-442-9720 (press option 1) to inform us you are here. We will tell you when it is OK to come into the office, as we are physically separating patients for everyone’s safety. Also to reduce the number of patients in the office, we ask anyone accompanying you to remain in the car or outside the office unless they are necessary to bring you up for mobility reasons or in the case of a dependent.
Once in our office you will be greeted, you will sanitize your hands and your temperature will be taken. You may be taken directly into the clinic area or may wait in the waiting room in designated seats to follow social distancing. We ask you refrain from touching your face or any unnecessary surfaces or items, such as door handles. Once in a treatment or consultation area, you will receive a mouth rinse to swish around for 30 seconds prior to any examination or treatment.
Our staff will be wearing masks at all times in the treatment areas, and also face shields and gowns for some procedures. Our office will be following a strict disinfection/cleaning protocol. Rest assured we have made everything as streamlined and safe for you and for us as reasonably possible, while still respecting Public Health and Dental Board regulations.
We still intend to provide you with the comfortable and safe procedure that you have come to expect and we look forward to seeing you soon!
Sincerely,
Citadel Oral & Facial Surgery
