To Our Valued Patients,
As this newest challenge continues to unfold with COVID-19(Coronavirus), we wanted to give you an update. First, we are currently maintaining our regular schedule. As of now, the Arizona Department of Health Services is not recommending closure or modification. We will continue to closely monitor information from the CDC and AZDHS and follow their recommendations. We will keep you up to date on any changes we may have to make via emails, our website, and social media.
Second, we would like to give you some insight into our practices to keep our team and patient family safe and comfortable. Dentistry is uniquely positioned to protect our team and patients. On a daily basis, we practice ‘Universal Precautions.’ This means we ALWAYS assume that every patient may be carrying a contagious, dangerous disease and we follow strict guidelines to prevent the transmission of any potential disease, including Hepatitis, Tuberculosis, HIV, AND COVID-19(Coronavirus). This has been standard of care and regulated by the Centers for Disease Control since the 1980s with the AIDS
epidemic.
These measures include:
1. Strict hand hygiene protocols.
2. Use of single use disposable protective equipment and barriers.
3. Thorough disinfection of exposed or potentially exposed surfaces after every patient visit.
4. Disinfection and high-heat steam sterilization of instruments. Routine monitoring of sterilization verification.
5. Continual education on infection control techniques.
In addition to these mandated measures, we have also implemented:
1. Disinfection of common area surfaces every 30 minutes.
2. Availability of hand sanitizer in common areas.
3. Screening everyone who enters based on CDC recommendations.
4. Pre-procedural mouth rinse.
We are happy to address any concerns you may have. We will continue to care for our patient family during this time following all best practices and will monitor CDC guidelines for any new recommendations.
Thank you for being a part of our family. Thank you for allowing us to care for you and your family. Please know we are here to support you and help you in any way that we can.
In good health,
Link to article:
https://bangordailynews.com/2020/03/12/opinion/contributors/dentistry-is-well-poised-to-ensure-the-safety-of-our-patients/
A lot of people are at risk for things like oral cancer, but do not even realize it. There are many things that can cause problems where an oral biopsy would be part of the diagnosis process. 
