We hope that you have all stayed safe and healthy during these unprecedented times. This has been a challenging few months for all of us, and we want you to know that we have been thinking of you and have missed seeing your smiling faces at our office. While we have been closed we have been very busy preparing our office and team to welcome you all back again safely. We are excited to announce that as of May 19th, Dr. Henry and the College of Dental Surgeons of BC have given us the green light to proceed with a gradual re-opening of our dental clinic. Over the past few weeks we have been slowly resuming emergency treatments, and are beginning to call to rebook regular hygiene appointments and outstanding non-urgent treatments. Please be patient and know that we haven’t forgotten about you- we are doing our absolute best to reschedule appointments as efficiently as we are able, while keeping everyone’s safety and social distancing in mind.
As healthcare professionals, your health and safety has always been our top priority. Under the guidance of our BC health authorities, Worksafe BC, the CDC, WHO (and our governing bodies the College of Dental Surgeons of BC and the BCDA), we have made enhancements to our usual strict operating protocols in order to ensure we are doing all we can to protect our patients and staff. We would like to take this time to let you know some of the many ways your visit to our office will be different, and what extra precautions we are undertaking to maximize the safety of our patients and staff. We appreciate your patience as we implement these changes.Victoria Professional Building upgrades and cleaning protocols:Our property managers have instituted some upgrades to the function and operation of the building. To ensure the cleanliness of all building common areas, full-time cleaners are on site from 9-5 weekdays to provide clinical cleaning of all touched surfaces in our building, including hourly cleaning of all door handles, elevator panels and buttons, indoor and outdoor hand railings, washrooms, light switches, mailboxes, recycling and garbage containers. In addition, the Victoria Professional Building is renovating the restaurant space on the main floor to create a lounge/waiting area open to the main lobby. To ease the pressures of adhering to physical distancing restrictions, this space will be available for use by all tenants and visitors during regular building hours, and will be furnished to promote physical distancing and provide a secondary waiting space beyond our office.
Enhanced Safety Protocols within our clinic:
Over the last two months we have been very busy behind the scenes. Our office has undergone a lovely renovation, which included new flooring, chair reupholstering, fresh paint, new artwork, and a thorough cleaning. We have also developed enhanced protocols with patient and staff safety being a priority. In addition to our usual strict disinfection and sterilization protocols within our treatment areas, we are also sanitizing all touchable surfaces in passageways, waiting room and staff areas frequently throughout the day. We have restructured our spaces to promote social distancing, including removing chairs and magazines from the waiting room, placing plexiglass shields at the reception desk, hand sanitizing stations at reception and throughout the clinic. In addition to the air filteration within our buildings’ HVAC system, we have new air purification units with HEPA filters spaced throughout the office, and will be adding Surgically Clean Air medical-grade filtration units in June, which have UV filters in addition to HEPA filters. These air purifiers remove chemicals, toxins, germs, odors, particulate and most importantly kill airborne viruses. UV light has been shown to have a viricidal, bacteriocidal, and fungicidal action to further improve our office air quality.
Each day our staff and all patients are pre-screened for symptoms and potential exposure to Covid-19, and are required to hand sanitize and have their temperature checked upon entry to our clinic. Our staff have all been fit-tested for N95 respirators, and are wearing enhanced protective equipment whenever we are in close contact with our patients. Many of the steps we are taking go above and beyond recommendations from our governing bodies.
What to expect prior to your appointment:
Arrival for your appointment:
During your appointment:
Dr. Gallant and her team will be wearing the appropriate PPE relevant for your procedure and for the protection of everyone in the room. We have added enhanced air cleaning and filtration systems to each treatment room, and you may hear variable “hums” from them during your procedure. Whenever possible we will use a rubber dam to isolate the area being treated, which further decreases any risk of aerosols.
After your appointment:
After your treatment is complete, you will be given a peroxide rinse once more before leaving the treatment area. You may be asked to remain in your treatment room for a minute or two. We thank you in advance for your patience as we take extra care in minimizing the number of people in the reception area, and to allow the receptionists time to ensure the touchable surfaces at the front desk (including pens and debit/credit machine) have been sanitized. We are not passing appointment cards at this time. We will text/email your appointment to you and email receipts as much as possible to minimize transfer of paper. We will request you use hand sanitizer once again as you exit the office.
Rescheduling your cancelled appointment:
If you had a regular appointment scheduled with Dr. Gallant or one of our lovely hygienists during our closure, we will be contacting you soon to rebook your appointment. Please resist the temptation to call us to rebook. We are gradually resuming our schedule and not all staff members are returning at once. Priority will be given to emergency patients and patients who had treatment appointments cancelled. We are working as quickly as possible to reschedule appointments while adhering to our safety protocols. This is for all of our protection, and we appreciate your patience as we re-open our office as safely and efficiently as we can in our new “Post-Covid” world.
In closing, your health and safety is our number one priority, and we thank you for your patience and cooperation in helping us to keep our clinic safe for everyone. These conditions may be temporary and may change over time as directed by the BCCDC, the College of Dental Surgeons of BC and WorkSafe BC. As Dr. Bonnie Henry says, these changes are for now, not forever. Now is our time to be kind, be calm and stay safe.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently updated their guidance for mitigating the transmission of COVID-19 in dental settings. After our review, the Canadian Dental Association (CDA) and BCDA believe the recommended restrictions apply to the current widespread community transmission of the virus in jurisdictions outside Canada (and BC).
Take good care, and we really look forward to catching up with you soon and seeing your smiling faces once again!
Dr. Gallant and Team