Dear Patients,
As dedicated health care professionals, we want you to know that we remain as diligent as ever in protecting the health and safety of our patients and staff. When we return to practice May 11th, we want everyone to be prepared for changes to the ‘new norm’ for the safety of our patients and staff.
What You Can Expect at Your Visit
- Our goal is to create a touch less check-in and check-out process
- We have decided to eliminate the use of our waiting area and instead utilize a “curbside waiting room”
- When you arrive, please text 850-900-1950 with your child/childrens’ name(s). We will complete medical history updates, expectations for treatment, and COVID-19 screening over the phone.
- When we are ready for your child, we will contact you to bring them into the office
- Please bring your own pen for consent forms and receipts; if you forget, we will provide one for you to take home with you
- A gloved staff member will hold your form of payment & process at the end of the appointment
- We will not be using our lobby, but rather take your child directly to the clinic area
- Patient will practice hand hygiene before seating
- We highly encourage children >3 years of age to enter our clinic area without a parent to minimize unnecessary spread of aerosols to adults
- If behavior does not permit, we ask you use your face covering or one of our masks if you need to come back with your child
- Children with special needs: we understand you may need to come back with your child and we ask you use your face cover or one of our masks to come back and assist
- If you’d like – you can send your child in with their iPad and we can Facetime at the end if you have any questions you want to go over specifically
- Parent will return to the car to wait until the child’s appointment is completed. You will be called back into the office if necessary, for payment or to review treatment needs or post-operative instructions.
- Our staff will be wearing full personal protective equipment (PPE) throughout the dental experience
- We are postponing our “Baby and Me” visits a few months 1) because our PPE is intimidating 2) we have turned our “baby and me” room into a PPE supply room. However, if your child under 3 years old has dental caries, pain, or a chief concern – please let us know and we can arrange a lap exam
- Your child will still get a prize, but it will be brand new & placed in their cup for them as they leave 🙂
- Because Dr. Shawn will be in full PPE and unable to come up front, she will write comments in your child’s “report card” and then will call/text any parents at the end of the day with any details that need to be discussed further.
Before Your Visit
- If you have new insurance information, please call our financial coordinator Sherrie at 850-900-1950 or email office@tallahasseepediatricdentistry.com as soon as possible
- Please fill out all forms ahead of time via the link sent by our Patient Software, Curve Dental
- Review our screening questionnaire to see if you should stay home – arrives via text 2 hours before
- Should your child have an underlying health condition, we recommend you schedule the first appointment of the morning or consider postponing treatment
- Assist your child with brushing, flossing, and mouth rinse before their appointment
Things to Bring With You
- Your beautiful smile and positive attitude
- Only one parent, please bring a mask or scarf to cover your mouth
- Warm clothes as our office will be kept at a temperature that allows our staff to wear additional PPE
Things NOT to Bring With You
- Siblings who do not have a dental appointment
- More than one parent
- Food, drink or toys from home
Things We Are Doing To Keep You Safe
- Curbside check-in and screening
- Eliminating all unnecessary objects from our waiting area & clinic
- Transformed our “refreshment station” into a “sanitization station”
- Lower volume of patients to allow for proper social distancing
- All staff will be wearing masks
- All clinical staff will be wearing disposable gowns, scrub caps, N95 or KN95 masks, goggles or face shields
- Single-use dental materials & hospital-grade disinfectants as we have always done
- A full-time Sterilization Technician to enhance our already robust sterilization procedures
- Touch-less check-out process
In the pediatric dental world, you have no idea how hard it is to not hug our patients and greet them with a great big smile! But your child’s safety and the safety of our Team is our #1 priority. We will still do everything in our power to make your child’s experience magical! Please let us know ahead of time if you have any special requests and we will do our best to accommodate 🙂
We love & miss our patients,
Dr. Shawn & crew
For further information, including measures to keep yourself healthy, visit the following links:
Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/prevention.html
Symptoms: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/symptoms.html
Steps When Sick: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/steps-when-sick.html