Procedures and Safety Practices

At DentFirst Dental Care, we have put in place several procedures and safety practices in hopes of keeping you and your family in good health. The world has been through a lot over the last few months, and we are looking forward to resuming our everyday routines and seeing our patients. While things have changed, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to your dental care, health, and safety.

While most people stayed home over the past few months, we remained open for emergency dental care. We did this to keep people out of emergency rooms and urgent care facilities. During April, we saw over 1,100 emergency dental patients while treating every patient in a safe environment.

Infection control has always been a top priority for all 13 dental offices. 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 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 continues to follow 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 these agencies’ guidance and mandates to keep us updated on any new rulings or directives that may be issued. We do this to ensure that our infection control procedures are current and adhere to each agency’s recommendations.

While we are resuming routine dental care appointments, you may see changes when it is time for your next appointment. We have made these changes to help protect our patients and team members.

For example:

• Our office will communicate with you before your visit to ask COVID screening questions. You will be asked those same questions again when you arrive at the office.
• We ask that you wait in your vehicle and call the office when you arrive for your appointment.
• You will be invited into the office by a team member who will check your temperature before being seated for your appointment.
• We have hand sanitizer we will ask you to use when you enter the office. Please try not to wear medical gloves inside our office.
• Our waiting room will no longer offer magazines, children’s toys, and so forth since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect.
• Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients.
• We ask that only the patient, and a guardian, if necessary, come to the appointment as we limit who we allow in the building.
• Our team members will wear additional personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face shields, masks, head covers, and gowns or jackets.
• Each room is thoroughly sanitized between patients. All disposable barriers and materials are disposed of and changed. All reusable instruments are placed in an autoclave for sterility.

Preventative dental care is essential to one’s overall health, and we look forward to seeing you soon. Our team is happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we take to keep you and every patient safe in our practices. To make an appointment, please call our office at 404-334-7622 or visit our website at www.DentFirst.com. Thank you for being our patient. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming our patients, neighbors, and friends back.

Sincerely,

The DentFirst Dental Care Family