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
