Covid-19 Protection measures

COVID-19 PROTECTION MEASURES WHICH WILL BE IMPLEMENTED IN CROSSROASDS DENTAL DAY TO DAY PRACTICE

We are open and you are welcome to make dental appointments at 0871502657. We would like to thank our loyal patients for your continued support during the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Please note that we have set up the following guidelines to ensure everyone’s safety as far as we are able to. Please familiarize yourself with these and know that you are safe at our practice.

1. Telephonically setting up appointments

Patients usually phone in to make an appointment. Our receptionist will confirm a date and time convenient to the patient. During this call, she will confirm whether the patient has any flu-like symptoms (fever, dry or sore throat, coughing, sneezing, runny nose, conjunctivitis, runny nose), has the patient been in close contact with a positively tested patient and educate the patient on these to eliminate a potentially infected patient to enter our practice. Upon telephonic confirmation of the appointment, these questions will be reiterated. Patient will be asked to come in alone, or in the case of a minor, one parent may accompany the child.

Our receptionist will wipe down the reception counter, telephone, computer keyboard, computer mouse, printer with 70% alcohol at regular intervals.

2. Outside our practice

Signs have been put up at the entrance with instructions to patients with symptoms of respiratory infection to

a. Cover their mouths/noses when coughing or sneezing.

b. Use and dispose of contaminated tissues.

c. Perform hand hygiene after hands have been in contact with respiratory secretions.

Please enter with your mask on. Only once treatment commences we will ask you to remove the mask.

3. Patient entering our practice

When a patient enters the practice, his/her temperature will be taken. Should a fever be detected, the patient’s appointment will be deferred to a later stage or after you have been tested and test results are confirmed.

Door handles on the inside and outside of the front door will be disinfected with 70% alcohol.

Should you (the patient) not show any signs of fever, you will be allowed to enter and at reception desk a wall mounted dispenser with sanitizing gel will be available and it will be obligatory that you disinfect your hands please. Please use your elbow to press down and eject some gel onto your hands, this way less cross-contamination can take place.

New patients should please fill out forms – the pen to be used for this purpose will be sprayed with 70% alcohol before and after use.

4. Staff entering practice

Upon entering our staff members body temperature will also be taken with a thermometer. Staff will disinfect hands with sanitizing gel also provided on a wall mounted dispenser just inside the back door. All keys etc. should be placed inside handbag and immediately placed in designated cupboard. Hands will be washed after placing handbag inside cupboard and after washing, hands will be disinfected again with sanitizing gel.

5. Waiting room

All surfaces in reception will be sprayed and wiped down constantly with 70% alcohol.

We will limit the number of patients in the waiting room or schedule appointments in such a way that no patients will be overlapping in the reception area.

Chairs will be spaced 1 meter apart from each other.

Should more than one patient be present in the waiting room, our vacant third surgery/consultation room will be used for patients to wait in.

6. Precautions inside consultation room/surgery

Surfaces and all dental equipment to be wiped down with 70% alcohol before and after each patient.

All dental equipment will be cleaned with 70% alcohol before and after each patient.

Keypad, armrests, spittoon (the bowl you spit in should you feel the need), suction switches of our Dental Chair will be wiped with 70% alcohol.

Surfaces of Sirona dental chair to be wiped down with specially formulated alcohol wipes appropriate for the material of the chair, according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Dental Chair of Dentist and Dental assistant chair will be wiped down with specially formulated Alcohol Wipes according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Only one patient will be allowed inside the surgery or unless a minor is accompanied by an adult/guardian, may more than one person be allowed inside.

Should the patient or dentist or dental assistant need to cough or sneeze, do so inside bent arm or inside mask-discard the mask if dental healthcare worker has done so, also change gloves and wash hands as the mask will now be contaminated.

7. Dental healthcare staff precautions

Washing of hands constantly and thoroughly before and after treating a patient, visiting the bathroom, after touching any part of the face.

Wearing proper PPE (personal protective equipment)

a. Properly fitting gloves

b. New mask for each patient, mask to cover nose and mouth

c. Protective eyewear to cover eyes and areas surrounding eyes

d. Plastic apron, discarded after single use (one patient)

Our staff will do everything in our power to ensure surfaces are kept clean at all times.

Please refrain from touching your face at all times.

Please use the wall mounted sanitizer dispenser in reception to sanitize your hands when leaving the practice please.

We have always (even before Covid-19) been very strict on our sterilization of instruments and equipment. We invested in a state of the art autoclave, in which previously washed instruments are placed and sterilized at extremely high temperatures to clean all possible contaminants. Clean trays with sterilized equipment and instruments will be placed inside a closed cupboard with shelves and will not be affected by airborne organisms and aerosols.

8. Equipment precautions to be taken by staff members

All radiographic equipment will be thoroughly wiped down with 70% alcohol before and after use.

Computer boxes, buttons, mouses and keyboards will be wiped down with 70% alcohol spray after each patient and on completion of the day, before leaving the practice.

9. In the case of a dental health care staff member contracting the virus

Should one of our staff members suspect having the infection or have any suspect symptoms, they will not be allowed to inside the practice before having herself tested. After confirmation of positive of negative results will she be allowed back inside the practice.

In the case of a positive test of one staff member, all staff of Crossroads Dental will self-isolate at home for 14 days. During this time we will be diverting the phone for telephonic consultations.

Conclusion

All our staff at Crossroads Dental Practice (Dr Engelbrecht & Dr van Heerden Inc.) will strive to ensure adequate cleanliness and disinfection to the best of our ability. We trust that we have the necessary precautions in place and will adhere to these strict protocols even after the COVID-19 virus has passed.

Please do not postpone an appointment or painful tooth, it may progress to something much larger and more expensive if you wait a couple of months.

Go well and be responsible and safe, but also, please try not to fear! Remember to live and to enjoy life even though this new “normal” we find ourselves in, are not ideal!