Important Information Regarding Covid-19
October 2020
We want to summarize and share some of the pandemic related safety measures we’ve taken at Children’s Dentistry of Trumbull and Stratford.
Patient and Team Safety Measures:
- Team Screening: We take the temperatures of our team daily and ask them to go through a series of health questions. They are aware of the importance of reporting any symptoms and staying home when needed. Our team, even at our front desk, are required to wear masks in the office even when they’re not seeing patients.
- Patient Screening: Parent’s are asked to fill out a health questionnaire for themselves and children before their appointment. Their temperatures are taken when they arrive and they’re asked to wash their hands. Masks are kept on by our patients until they’re seated.
- Rinse: We ask children old enough to gargle to practice at home before their appointment. At the office, they’re asked to gargle twice with a mouthwash containing hydrogen peroxide.
- Social Distancing
- Our patients are asked to wait in their cars rather than our waiting room.
- We’ve increased the length of our appointments and decreased the number of our appointments to give time for our extra safety precautions.
- We have reduced our front office team and the number of staff we have in-office at any given time.
- We have touchless payment options for our patients.
- PPE
- Our team has the required PPE; all respirators are FDA or Niosh certified.
- Our team has been medically cleared for fit testing and respirator use.
- They are fit tested. They’ve been instructed in proper use from donning and doffing to sterilization.
https://success.ada.org/en/practice-management/patients/safety-and-clinical
Clinical and Office Safety Measures:
- Ventilation and Air Cleaning – We use air purifiers with hepa air filters and germicidal/uv-c lights in all our rooms. Our HVAC system remains on all day as well as our exhaust vents.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/office-buildings.html
- Air Sanitization
- We have powerful UV-C lights in all our operatories. We turn them on in between patients. Our air purifiers with UV-C lights are on the entire day.
https://www.livescience.com/uv-light-kill-coronavirus.html
- Hypochlorous acid (HOCL) Fogging – We fog our rooms in between patients with HOCL, a non-toxic but effective disinfectant. It’s a member of the chlorine family and can make our rooms remind you of a trip to a swimming pool. Our fogger is a little loud, but it is doing an important task.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7315945/
- HVE (High Velocity Evacuators) – We’ve always used HVE in our practice and continue to do so with Releaf and pink petal tips. HVE reduces aerosols by 90-98%.
- Extra-Oral Suction Machines – In addition to the intra-oral suction from our HVE, we also have extra-oral suction machines. These capture, contain, clean, sterilize and kill dental aerosols.
https://www.vectorusa.net/products/vector-vortex/
- Common Surfaces and Minimized Touch points – To the dismay of many of our young patients, our toy machines and tablets are unavailable during the pandemic. We ask them to pick their prizes at the end of their visits without touching them first.
July 2020
Dear Parents,
It’s been over a month since we re-opened our practice. Thank you to all of you who have come in. For those of you who have yet to schedule your children’s appointments, here are some of the changes to expect:
– We ask parents to fill out a wellness form prior to their child’s appointment.
– We have limited and spaced out appointments available to allow for the social distancing and cleanliness checks.
– We have limited team members in the office at any time.
– We have instituted a virtual waiting room and ask parents to text us when they are in the parking lot. We text back when their room is ready for them. We want to ensure you are not waiting too long in our reception area.
– We have uv air purifiers in the rooms and common areas and germicidal UV lights in the operatories.
I want to take this opportunity to let you know we have closed our Seymour office and have moved it to Stratford. The new office is at 7365 Main St, #4, it is located near the Sikorsky area and next to Dunkin Donuts. Our plan is to open more operatories to serve our patients. It will be the same team and dentists working in that office.
As always if you have any questions please feel free to text or call us at 203-590-1588. Our email is [email protected] We prefer texts and emails because we have limited the people answering phones in the office. We are here for you and your children.
– Dr. Sara
May 6, 2020 – Update
Dear Parents,
I wanted to give you an update on what is happening here at Children’s Dentistry of Trumbull. As you may know our governor has maintained his shelter in place order until May 20, 2020. Our office is open to see emergency patients. I am still here for you if you need anything for your children’s oral health.
In the meantime, we are getting our office ready to start seeing patients. With your and our team’s safety in mind, we have instituted a few changes. We have been keeping current with guidelines from the CDC, American Dental Academy, American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, and the Connecticut State Dental Association. We continue to put safety first and always – for our patients, our team, and our community. We have made some changes to prepare to welcome our patients back with:
- Performing wellness verifications before each visit
- Parking lot and text message check-ins
- Requesting everyone wear masks and use hand sanitizer in the office
- Minimizing non-clinical ‘touch’ interactions (wireless pay options, digital forms, e-receipts, touchless trash cans and paper towel dispensers)
- Placing air purifiers in every room
- Employee daily health screening and temperature checks
Once we have the go signal to open we will do so slowly and prudently. We will make sure the practice is safe for both our patients and team. We will prioritize patients that have urgent needs, deep cavities and those in pain. We will slowly add in our regular patients for their cleanings and check-ups. Please note that dental procedures generate aerosols and we will limit those in the next few months in order to protect you and our team members.
Prior to your child’s scheduled appointment we will send you what to expect of our practice and the procedures and any clinical changes we have implemented via e-mail or text. We miss you all.
Sincerely,
Dr. Sara
March 18, 2020 – Update
In light of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Connecticut State Dental Association (CSDA) has asked all dental practices to suspend non-emergency dental care until April 1.
All patients at Children’s Dentistry of Trumbull and Seymour scheduled between March 17 to March 31 are currently being rescheduled. We will still be available to see your child if they are in pain or have trauma caused by an accident.
We wish everyone the best during this time.
– Dr. Sara and Children’s Dentistry of Trumbull
General Information Regarding Covid-19
In recognition of ongoing news reports and the continued spread of the COVID-19 virus, we realize our patients have questions. As dedicated health care professionals, we want you to know that we remain as diligent as ever in protecting the health and safety of our patients and staff. Our practice strictly adheres to and exceeds the standards for infection control by wearing personal protective gear, using hospital-grade disinfectants, practicing the latest sterilization protocols, utilizing single-use disposable materials, and more. Every effort we have in place is to ensure the safety of our patients and staff. We want you to know that we are monitoring this situation very closely, and we will keep you updated regularly.
Symptoms of coronavirus are reported as flu-like, with varying degrees of severity. While we do not know everything about this virus to date, individuals who are elderly and/or immunocompromised appear to be the most at risk of a severe infection. To ensure your health and safety, and the health and safety of everyone at our practice, please reschedule your appointment if you or a member of your household has a cough, fever, and/or flu-like symptoms. In addition, please reschedule your appointment if you have traveled to any areas within the past 14 days that are at high risk for contracting the coronavirus.
We thank you in advance and extend our gratitude for your understanding and cooperation. Together, we can help keep everyone as safe and healthy as possible. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our office, and one of our staff members will be more than happy to assist you.
Please view and share our latest COVID-19 Symptom Comparison Chart with your friends and family.
For further information, including measures to keep yourself healthy, visit the following links: