Faced with the challenge of maintaining our professional standards in an age of Covid-19, 20/20dentistry has adapted waiting and treatment room environments, as well as its procedures and treatments.
An upgraded HEPA air filter has been installed that services the entire office—a technology recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization as helpful in reducing airborne virus-carrying droplets. The practice has also incorporated ultraviolet light fixtures in treatment rooms. Used between appointments (when no patient is present), their particular spectrum of ultraviolet, UVC, professionally applied, has been proven to kill/ inactivate microorganisms and viruses, including Covid-19.
No more than two patients occupy the waiting area at any time, and masks are required both in the building as a whole and in the waiting room. Prior to appointments, patients are screened with both temperature and pulse oximeter checks (the latter measures the saturation of oxygen in red blood cells), and asked to complete a questionnaire to determine any potential Covid-19 exposure.
Just prior to a procedure, patients are given a 45-second Listerine rinse (research is ongoing, but a number of health professionals have reported that Listerine may be helpful in reducing the virus’s spread from one person to another). During procedures, a high-capacity suction system, placed just next to the patient’s mouth, is used to remove aerosols produced during treatment.
Face masks, shields, and other personal protective equipment are also used by the office staff, who are also keenly aware of proper social distancing. The result is a standard of safety that not only meets American Dental Association Covid-19 recommendations, but exceeds them.
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