COVID-19 update

We hope this letter finds you and your family in good health. Our community has been through a lot over the last year, and all of us are looking forward to resuming our normal habits and routines. While many things have changed, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to your safety.

Infection control has always been a top priority for our practice and you may have seen this during your visits to our office. Our infection control processes are made so that when you receive care, it’s both safe and comfortable. We want to tell you about the infection control procedures we follow in our practice to keep patients and staff safe.

Our office follows infection control recommendations made by the American Dental Association (ADA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). We follow the activities of these agencies so that we are up-to-date on any new rulings or guidance that may be issued. 

You may see some changes when it is time for your next appointment. We made these changes to help protect our patients and staff. For example:

• Our office has recently been remodelled ( Dec 2020) and you will notice the clean new environment with vinyl flooring and frontdesk that allows for easier cleaning and maintenance.
• Our office will communicate with you beforehand to ask some screening questions.  Some of those will be repeated again when you are in the office.
• We have hand sanitizer that we will ask you to use when you enter the office. If you are wearing gloves, we will exchange them for a clean set that we will provide at the front desk. You will also find hand sanitizer in other places in the office for you to use as needed.
• Our waiting room has less seating and will no longer offer magazines since they are difficult to clean and disinfect. 
• Besides the enhanced HVAC system in the building, we have added HEPA 13 air filtration units throughout the office to remove germs from the circulating air.
• We will do our best to allow greater time between patients to reduce waiting times for you, as well as to reduce the number of patients in the reception area at any one time.
• Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. Hygiene appointments have been staggered to minimize a backup of patients checking in and out. 
• Our team members will be utilizing enhanced personal protection equipment ( PPE ). Due to the changes in the supply chain driving up costs, you will notice a separate fee for PPE depending on the type of procedure at each appointment. We hope to be able to reduce this charge as supplies become more readily available in the future. 

We look forward to seeing you again and are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we take to keep you, and every patient, safe in our practice. Thank you for being our patient. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming you back.

Sincerely,

Dr. Mark Handelsman and Staff