05/22/2020
COVID-19 UPDATE:
We are able to open our office again beginning on May 29. As you can see, things will look a little different, Please read our update below:
These last 2.5 months have been a time filled with uncertainty, information, anxiety and life-style changes for everyone. As we all navigate this ‘new normal’, we want you to know that we as an office are so thankful to be a part of this community and are eager and ready to serve you again. Dr. Helmus has been safely treating emergency patients during this time, and he even had a few people that were EXCITED to get to go to the dentist. I guess it took a pandemic to get people excited about the dentist! We feel excited to get to be here again as well.
If you had an appointment that was cancelled during this shutdown, you should have been contacted to reschedule. If you have not been reached or were somehow missed in our schedule, please call us to make an appointment. As you remember, our beloved Kathy was set to retire in May. We are pleased to add Erin to our wonderful team, and you will get to meet her next time you come in! Please give us extra grace as we navigate new jobs, new protocols, and a complicated schedule impacted by 2.5 months of a shutdown.
As a dental office, we already have very strict standards of infection control in place that are meant to combat a wide range of infectious diseases. Now that COVID-19 is a part of life, we have implemented some additions to our protocols to best protect ourselves and our patients.
When you arrive at the office:
Prior to your appointment please check the COVID-19 symptom checker on our website (and attached below). Please reschedule your appointment if necessary. If you are a high-risk individual, please contact the office about special hours for an appointment.
If you are wearing a mask, come in as you normally would. Due to the size of our waiting room we are able to accommodate you with appropriate social distancing. If you are not comfortable with this, please remain in your car and call 616-538-7320 when you arrive.
If you are over the age of 18, please come into your appointment by yourself. Ideally, spouses/drivers should wait in their cars whenever possible. Please do not bring additional children or family members to appointments at this time.
When you walk in, please use the hand sanitizer provided at the front counter.
We have installed clear barriers for better protection during our patient and administrative team interactions.
Before treatment we will check your temperature with a no-touch thermometer.
In the patient room:
We have installed UV and HEPA air purifiers in each dental operatory, along with one in the waiting area and administrative area. These filters turn over the air in a room minimally 5 times every hour.
Our clinical team will be utilizing additional PPE to keep them and our patients safe.
You will be asked to rinse with ozonated water before any dental procedure or cleaning.
After your procedure:
We will continue to use the same OSHA guidelines that we have always been using, but will take extra care and time in disinfecting treatment areas, as well as allowing more time between patients for our air purifiers to turn over the air in the room before the next patient arrives.
COVID-19 Symptom Checker
Before your appointment, Please read through this list of questions:
1. Do you have a fever, or have you felt hot or feverish recently (14-21 days)?
2. Are you having shortness of breath or other difficulties breathing?
3. Do you have a cough?
4. Are you experiencing any other flu-like symptoms, such as gastrointestinal upset, headache, or fatigue?
5. Have you experienced recent loss of taste or smell?
6. Are you in contact with any confirmed COVID-19 positive patients? Patients who are well but who have a sick family member at home with COVID-19 should consider postponing elective treatment.
7. Have you traveled in the past 14 days to any regions affected by COVID-19 (as relevant to your location)?
If you can answer yes to any of these questions, please postpone your dental appointment. If you answered no to these questions, but your age or medical conditions such as heart disease, lung disease, kidney disease, diabetes, or any auto-immune disorder, put you at higher risk, you may want to consider postponing/rescheduling your appointment for elective treatment.
