June 1, 2020

A letter to our patients,

We hope this letter finds you and your family in good health! Our community has been through a lot over the last few months, and all of us are looking forward to resuming our regular habits and routines. Our dental office is now open again as of June 1. While many things have changed, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to your health and safety. Infection control is a top priority for our practice; you have likely seen this during your previous visits to our office. Our infection control processes are designed 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) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). We follow the activities of these agencies and receive alerts 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:

• We would ask you to wear face masks when you arrive and depart our office.
• Our office will communicate with you before your appointment to ask some screening questions. We will ask those same questions again when you enter the office.
• We have hand sanitizer available for use when you enter the dental office. You will also find some in the reception area and other places in the office for you to use as needed.
• We have eliminated the typical “reception room” for the time being in our dental office. We ask that you call our office from your car when you arrive for your appointment. If your treatment room is ready, we will have you come in the office. We will take a no-touch scan of your forehead temperature, and take you straight into your treatment room.
• To minimize transactions at the reception desk, we would ask those of you that can to please pre-pay for your dental services on the phone the day before your treatment visit as we confirm your appointment.
• For those who still must pay for dental services at the front desk, we have placed acrylic shields at the reception desk area to allow you to maintain social distancing guidelines when dealing with the front desk staff.
• A staff member wipes down the front desk counter, as well as the entrance and exit door handles after any patient enters or leaves the dental office.
• We have 3 Honeywell “Doctor’s Choice” High Volume Air Purifiers running in the treatment rooms. These air purifiers have a 2-stage HEPA filtration system and remove 99.9% of airborne bacteria, mold spores, and viruses down 0.03 microns in size (per Honeywell data).
• All treatment rooms are cleaned and disinfected between patients with EPA registered disinfectants capable of killing 99.97% of bacteria and viruses.
• All surfaces in the patient restroom are cleaned and disinfected after each use.
• Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment. Some of your upcoming appointment times may need to be changed slightly.
• We will do our best to allow a longer time between patients to reduce waiting times for you.

We look forward to seeing you back at our office again and are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we take to keep you safe in our practice. To make an appointment, please call our office at 408-778-4440. Thank you for the trust you have shown in us. We value your support and loyalty and look forward to welcoming back our patients, neighbors, and friends.

With our sincerest best wishes,

Mark Reber DDS, MS
Taira Hughes RDA
Dee Goraya RDH
Natalie Crowley, RDH
Danielle Oxford