Heine & Associates Family Dentistry

07/20/2022

We are asking for thoughts and prayers to go out to Shirley, our amazing hygienist. Shirley's son, Cameron was diagnosed with a very rare Stage 3 malignant tumor, that he has been fighting valiantly since entering the hospital on May 31. For those of you who have known Shirley for all of these years, I know she would appreciate all the love and support.

The link below tells more of Cameron's story. ❤️

On Tuesday, May 31st, my seemingly healthy 31-year-old brother was experiencing debilitating … Ashley Suozzi needs your support for Help Cameron Fight Cancer

06/04/2020

As of yesterday, June 3, the Pennsylvania Department of Health removed the prohibition on non-urgent/ non-emergent dental care. This means that our office is now open to ALL procedures, including routine cleanings and exams. This is fantastic news, as our office has largely been limited to emergency dental procedures since our closure on March 16.
We will resume our normal schedule on Monday June 8. There are many patients who missed their 6 month cleaning in the past few months, and we will do our best, with some expanded hours, to accommodate as many appointments as possible. We will be contacting patients immediately, to allow those interested to maintain their dental health. As we expect a large volume of calls, our new phone system has a built in texting option, which will ease our efforts to get in touch with you.
You may see some changes when it is time for your next appointment. We made these changes to help protect our patients and staff. For example:
- Our office will communicate with you beforehand to ask some screening questions. Prior to your visit, you will receive an electronic questionnaire through your email/text. This short panel of questions is to be completed for each appointment, and will require little time on your end. If unable, we will review these screening questions verbally.
- Temperature screenings will occur for all staff members and patients upon arrival.
- We have a sanitary station in the waiting room. We will provide hand sanitizer, tissues, gloves, hygienic wipes and masks if needed. Everyone over the age of 2 must wear a mask into the office as restrictions remain in place.
- You may see that our waiting room will no longer offer magazines, children’s toys and so forth, since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect.
- We will have HEPA air purifiers in all treatment rooms, in addition to the waiting room
- Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.
- We will do our best to allow greater time between patients to reduce waiting times for you, as well as to reduce the number of patients in the reception area at any one time. Please check your phones before walking into the office, as we may send a text asking you to wait in your car in case of a full waiting area.
We hope you are all well, and we look forward to seeing you again soon!
Drs. Heine, Dhruva, Morrison and staff

05/22/2020

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 resuming our normal habits and routines. 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 is both safe and comfortable. We want to tell you about the infection control procedures we follow in our practice to keep patients and staff safe.
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. We do this to make sure that our infection control procedures are current and adhere to each agencies’ recommendations.
You may see some changes when it is time for your next appointment. We made these changes to help protect our patients and staff. For example:
- Our office will communicate with you beforehand to ask some screening questions. Prior to your visit, you will receive an electronic questionnaire through your email. This short panel of questions is to be completed for each appointment, and will require little time on your end. If unable, we will review these screening questions verbally.
- Temperature screenings will occur for all staff members and patients upon arrival.
- We have a sanitary station in the waiting room. We will provide hand sanitizer, tissues, gloves, hygienic wipes and masks if needed. Ideally, each patient, and parent/guardian will wear masks into the office as restrictions remain in place.
- You may see that our waiting room will no longer offer magazines, children’s toys and so forth, since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect.
- We will have HEPA air purifiers in all treatment rooms, in addition to the waiting room
- Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.
- We will do our best to allow greater time between patients to reduce waiting times for you, as well as to reduce the number of patients in the reception area at any one time.
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. While certain aspects of our office are open (emergency based restorative treatment, orthodontics), we are still waiting on guidance with regard to preventative treatment such as cleanings. We expect an update very soon, and will notify you the moment we hear.
Thank you for being our patient. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming back our patients, neighbors and friends.
Sincerely,
Drs Heine, Dhruva, Morrison and team

05/11/2020

To our patients,
We hope that you and your families are all well during this trying time.
This message will be the first of many in the next few weeks. We will provide updates regarding our office opening dates, office set up, scheduling and new policies. It has been 8 weeks since we closed operations on March 16. Those 8 weeks have been stressful for many of you, and for us. We have been closed, except for emergencies, and we've handled them to the best of our abilities.
The week of our office closure, the Pennsylvania Department of Health closed the profession of dentistry. We were only able to treat emergency patients, and even then, we were mandated to first attempt a called in prescription vs. seeing patients in office. Since that announcement, we have not had an update or even a single form of communication until now.
The PA Department of Health released an update for dental offices this past Friday night. It is a very vague summary, that I presume will be updated and expanded upon by the Pennsylvania State Dental Board and the Pennsylvania Dental Association. I expect these updates in the very near future. While we want to get back to work and maintain your dental health, we want to ensure we are performing in a way that is safe for all of you, and our team.
A few aspects of dentistry are available to you now, and we will begin scheduling these within the week.
- Orthodontics: Almost all aspects, including adjustments have been approved.
- Dentures, Nightguards, Bleaching trays: Any patient needing aid with a partial or complete denture, or in the process of fabricating a partial or complete denture can be seen. Included under this category- bleaching trays fabrication/delivery and nightguard delivery/adjustment/fabrication.
- Implants: Delivery of implant restorations, implant impression taking
- Emergencies: We are still available for emergencies. In the past 8 weeks we had phone coverage twice a week for the morning hours. These hours will be expanded. As always, the doctors cell numbers will remain on the machine. Teledentistry remains available for those who are unable to come into the office.
I will send out an update in the next few days. Hopefully, we will have more guidance as to our ability to perform and finish routine operative procedures (fillings, crowns, etc.). As per OSHA and CDC, we will have new guidelines for the appointment process and set up of the office, so stay tuned!

Be well, and thank you for your patience,
Drs Heine, Dhruva, Morrison and staff