
TO OUR VALUED FAMILIES
Here at Northwest Children’s Dentistry, the health and welfare of your family is our top priority. We reopened on Tuesday, May 26th for regular appointments only after implementing some new changes at our office. We will update this page periodically to keep you informed of what to expect when you visit us. If you have any questions about these changes, please call our office at (520) 544-8522.
WHAT’S CHANGING AT OUR OFFICE?
The following are new procedures at our office to reduce your family’s exposure to the coronavirus. These changes are meant to provide the safest dental care for you and your family.
- Less Patient Traffic: Scheduling is being improved to reduce the number of families in the office at one time.
- Increased Cleaning Routines: While our pediatric dental office already had strict cleaning procedures in place, we will be increasing our cleaning and sterilization procedures throughout the day.
- Strict Staff Screening: All dentists and staff will be screened each morning for potential COVID-19 symptoms and other possible increased risk factors. Anyone with symptoms will not be allowed to provide care.
- Advanced Air Filtration: True-HEPA filtration systems are being installed. They will be placed throughout our office for maximum coverage.
- Physical Barriers: New glass windows and a door have been added to our front office reception area. Curtains have been added to our Open Bay Operatory in order to create personal spaces in addition to 6 feet distancing.
- Hand Sanitizer Availability: Hand sanitizer will be available in our office for use by families.
- More Personal Protection Equipment: Our staff will be wearing increased Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). We will do our best to show our youngest patients that we are the same dentists they’ve always loved behind the masks.
- Colder Office Temperatures: Wearing PPE makes things hot for our staff, so we will increase the use of air conditioning at our office. Please dress warmly!
- New Parent Chairs: Parent waiting room chairs and chairs in the operatory have been changed from cloth to VINYL for easy and frequent cleaning.
- Fewer On-site Toys and Books: Your child will notice a reduction to on-site books and toys available during a dental visit. You may consider bringing something for them if they need a distraction.
- Prize Distribution Changes: We know how much getting a prize means to our patients! Your child will still receive a prize, but we will be revamping our reward system to exclude the vending machine, which will help us reduce the amount of surfaces our patients touch.
NEW POLICIES FOR FAMILIES
In addition to staff changes, we will be asking you to follow new policies to keep everyone in our community safe.
- We will not treat patients with flu or cold-like symptoms for non-emergency appointments. We will ask you to reschedule if your child is sick at the time of your appointment. If your child is experiencing a dental emergency with symptoms, please call our office at (520) 544-8522 so we can find a way to assist you.
- Only one adult will be allowed to accompany their child to a dental appointment. This recommendation is meant to reduce the number of people in our office. Please call our office at (520) 544-8522 prior to your child’s appointment if you feel that you need an additional adult.
- We will screen all patients and their families prior to their appointment. We will assess families at our office for potential COVID-19 symptoms and other possible increased risk factors. We will test temperatures to ensure they are below 100 °F. You will be asked the following questions (and your answers may result in rescheduling your appointment):
- Do you or your child have a fever?
- Do you or your child have a dry cough?
- Are you or your child experiencing shortness of breath?
- Are you or your child experiencing persistent pain or pressure in the chest?
- Have you or your child had close contact with an individual diagnosed with COVID-19 in the last 14 days?
- Have you or your child traveled to an area with ongoing COVID-19 transmissions in the last 14 days?
- We are committed to only having so many people in our building. Because of this, you may be asked to wait in your car with your child for a few minutes as we finish with previous patients.
All of these changes may result in needing to reschedule patient appointments. The information on this page may be updated at any time. Thank you for understanding our commitment to reducing our families’ exposure to COVID-19.