Office Update

To our wonderful patients and families,

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We have missed all your smiling faces! We hope that this letter finds you and your family in good health in these difficult times. As an office of parents, we understand what an impact this has had on our children’s daily lives. While many things have changed, one thing remains the same: our commitment to your children’s dental health, safety and well-being.

As Governor Abbott has allowed dental offices to reopen, our patients’ and staff members’ health and safety continue to be top of mind. We have begun the process of opening in stages. The first one being taking care of those children with emergent needs that had to be postponed due to the COVID crisis. As we begin the next phase, it will be necessary to see a reduced volume of patients on a daily basis to comply with social distancing and infection control from state and national agencies. We appreciate your patience and understanding in this process!

We’d like to be transparent about sanitation standards in the healthcare space in order to ease any concerns you may have about your child visiting the dentist. Our practice has always adhered to infection prevention protocols set by OSHA, the ADA, and the CDC. These standards include:

Regular hand washing: 

• Before and after treating a patient 
• Before putting on gloves and immediately after removing them 
• After touching any potentially contaminated surfaces or equipment
• Using soap and water for visibly soiled hands instead of alcohol-based hand sanitizer 

Use of personal protective equipment: 

• Wearing gloves, masks and eyewear while treating patients 
• Using new gloves for treatment of every patient 
• Removing personal protective equipment before leaving the work area

Using proper respiratory and cough etiquette: 

• Covering mouths and noses when coughing or sneezing 
• Coughing or sneezing into the elbow
• Using and disposing of tissues 
• Sanitizing hands after exposure to respiratory secretions

 Use of sterile instruments and devices: 

• Disinfecting and sterilizing reusable dental equipment before use on another patient 
• Keeping manufacturer’s reprocessing instructions readily available for trained team members 
• Wearing appropriate PPE when handling and reprocessing equipment 
• Using monitors to ensure effectiveness of sterilization 
• Maintaining sterilization records in accordance with state and local regulations

Cleaning and disinfecting surfaces throughout the operatories and office:

• Establishing policies and procedures for routine cleaning and disinfection of surfaces 
• Using barriers for hard-to-clean surfaces 
• Cleaning and disinfecting surfaces that are not barrier-protected
• Using EPA-registered disinfectants or detergents that are suitable for health care settings

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In addition to adhering to these standards, we will also take measures to ensure social distancing regulations can be respected in our practice so that all patients feel comfortable receiving care. 

If you have any questions about our sanitation processes, please feel free to contact our office for more information.

We’re so happy to be open again and can’t wait to see you. Thank you for your continued support of our local small, private practice

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Best, 

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The Big Picture Pediatric Dentistry Team

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