HAHarvey Walden
2 days agoOttesen Family Dentistry Reopening Plans & Social Distancing
We are currently planning the reopening of our dental practice on May 11th, 2020. Governor DeSantis and the Florida Dental Association have asked all Florida Dental Offices to close except to see dental emergencies through May 8th, 2020. Ottesen Family Dentistry in Niceville is going to implement 10 steps towards social distancing as we reopen.
We will be using more PPE, personal protective equipment, as we work on every patient. Niceville dentist, Doctor Ottesen, and our hygienists, Lynn, Alyssa, and Jenny, and our dental assistants, will be wearing masks the entire time we are in proximity with our patients. We plan to wear facing shields during appointments, as we are able to obtain these shields due to the current shortage of PPE.
We plan to stagger our patient appointments to minimize the number of people in the office at one time. We are adding a buffer time to each appointment to allow for temperature taking, extra sterilization, patient screening time.
We will call our patients prior to appointments to review safety policies and to ask if patients have any COVID symptoms of fever.
Our reception room will be closed. Check in will be completed over the phone. Please text 850-502-6467 or call the Niceville office 850-279-6657 when you arrive for your appointment. We will send a dental assistant to your car to escort you into the office when it is time for your appointment. We will bring patients into the office once the previous patient has left and sanitation is complete.
Only patients will be permitted to enter the office for appointments. Spouses, friends, caregivers and parents will be asked to wait outside or in their cars. We will have chairs outside of the office where accompanying friends or family will be able to wait. We will have cool water bottles for those waiting. Family and caregivers can assist the patient to the front door and hand off the patient to the dental assistant.
Doctor Ottesen will be using the Isolite and Isodry systems to reduce aerosols produced with the use of a dental hand piece and the ultrasonic irrigation systems used during dental cleanings. The Isolite and Isodry offers continuous high volume ejector use during (HVE) dental procedures.
Prior to reopening, we are deep cleaning our dental office to prepare to reopen. All toys have been removed from our play area. Toys can be checked out if needed from the front desk. All magazines have been removed from the reception area for the time being. All surfaces have been cleaned with anti-viral agents.
We are creating a new position in our office: Sanitation Technician. This dental assistant will be responsible for carrying out sanitizing all areas of concern every day.
Temperature will be taken on every patient prior to beginning any dental treatment. We will not be making a diagnosis based on temperature, but we are screening for higher risk patients.
We will be offering special hours for our high risk patients (patients with diabetes, obese, asthma, immune-compromised). Please contact our office if you prefer a special hour appointment (first appointment of the day). Please give our office in Niceville a call at 850-279-6657 to schedule an appointment during these special hours. Please note, these appointments will be reserved for our high risk patients.
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