To our Embrace Family and Friends,
We hope this letter finds you and your family safe and healthy. Our global and local communities have been through a life-changing period, and we are all hoping to return to some sense of normalcy soon. While many things have changed, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to your health and safety.
Infection control has always been a top priority for our practice, as you have experienced during all your previous visits to our office. Our office follows infection control protocols made by the Alberta Dental Association & College. This commitment to ensuring a safe, yet comfortable environment has been paramount to top quality orthodontic care. In light of current events, we want to tell you about the hospital-grade infection control procedures we currently have and safety protocols we will continue to follow in our practice to keep patients and staff safe.
You will see some changes when it is time for your next appointment in order to protect our patients and our staff:
- All patients will be emailed a link to a Wellness Survey and updated Informed Consent that must be filled out in the 24 hours prior to EACH APPOINTMENT. This link will come with your regular appointment reminder email or text. It will also be posted on our social media accounts and website, so you can access it anytime.
- All people entering our office will have their temperature taken (no-touch forehead thermometer) and will be provided with hand sanitizer to use.
- We kindly request all people entering our office to be wearing a mask. We are only able to stock enough disposable masks for the use of our staff, so we ask that each person brings their own. This is not a requirement but we strongly recommend it.
- Our waiting room will be closed. This means we will ask that patients wait in their car until their treatment chair is ready. Please arrive 5 minutes early and please TEXT 587-920-5866 when you arrive.
- Only the patient is permitted in the office. We will make exceptions for the younger patients or those who need special assistance. In that case, only one adult may accompany the patient – this person will also be asked to complete the wellness survey, wear a mask, and have their temperature taken. Please no siblings or other guests. Though our favorite part of our office is the family atmosphere, right now we have to love the whole family from afar.
- Our tooth-brushing area will be closed to prevent cross contamination, so please brush and floss well prior to the appointment.
- Half the usual number of patients will be seen in the clinic area at a time, and patients will be seated as far apart as possible. This “socially distant scheduling” will unfortunately make finding the perfect appointment time a little more difficult. We understand many of our patients are concerned about not having been seen in our office for some time. We empathize 100%, and so we will be working very hard to catch up on over 900 missed appointments. WE WILL HAVE TO SEE EVERY PATIENT IN THE ORDER THAT THEY WERE ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED, UNLESS THERE IS AN URGENT CONCERN. Please request a virtual consultation visit right away in case you have any concerns, so we can make the best plan together.
- We have invested in multiple medical-grade air purification units (Surgically Clean Air), which also have UV/electromagnetically-enhanced HEPA filters. The SCA units were originally designed for use during the SARS epidemic to eliminate 99.8% airborne pathogens in clinical spaces, and are the industry leader in medical/dental air purification.
- Procedures generating dental aerosol (removal of braces or aligner attachments are the most common) will be limited to special isolated units and private room. During this procedure, we will be using a Surgically Clean Air unit, which captures all the aerosols. Special personal protective equipment and measures will be taken by Dr. Ramune and assistants for these procedures.
- Our entire team will also undergo daily temperature checks and screening questions to monitor our own health.
- Some appointments, like growth observation, retainer monitoring will be conducted virtually. This will not only save you a trip, it promotes social distance. Our office will contact you in advance if this is an option.
We sincerely thank you for your patience as we work through all of these changes! We look forward to seeing you again soon!
Sincerely,
Dr. Ramune Sileikyte and your Embrace team.