Dear Smile Centre Family,
The Ontario Government has announced new restrictions in various regions of the province beginning Monday, November 23, 2020 at 12:01 a.m. These restrictions include moving the regions of Toronto and Peel into Lockdown (maximum measures) status. You can find the status of all regions in Ontario here.
With the announcement that Toronto and Peel regions are heading into lockdown as of tomorrow, we wanted to let you know that all of our Smile Centre locations are still OPEN.
As medical/health providers, we have been classified as providing essential services and will continue to provide both preventive and restorative, as well as emergency treatment. Please know that we are doing everything we can to ensure that we go above and beyond all of the recommended safety protocols to keep you, your loved ones, and our team healthy and safe. That is, and always will be our highest priority.
If you have not visited one of our clinics lately, here is a reminder of what you can expect at your next visit:
PRE-SCREENING:
A COVID-19 Health Screening Questionnaire will be sent to you prior to your appointment. Please ensure that you respond prior to your office visit. You will be screened again upon arrival and a team member will ask you some questions and take your temperature before you enter the treatment area. You will also notice signage throughout the clinics regarding safety measures in place in the facility, such as the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), physical distancing, and hand-sanitizing.
ARRIVAL AT CLINIC:
We ask that all patients please arrive no more than 5 minutes before your scheduled appointment time. If you arrive early, you may be asked to wait in your vehicle to reduce the number of people in the waiting area and to aid in social distancing. Please text or call us to let us know that you have arrived and we will let you know when it is ok to enter the office. You will be required to wear a mask at all times in the dental office, except for during treatment, in the treatment room. If you do not have a mask, we will provide one for you.
WAITING AREA:
We have removed most of the seating from our waiting rooms. Whenever possible, we are having patients wait outside of the clinic until their appointment time. However, if you do need to use one of our chairs, please do so. We will ensure the surfaces of the chairs are sanitized after every use. Our receptionists have plexiglass shields in front of them at all times - we ask that you please respect social distancing, even at the front desk, and refrain from touching surfaces there whenever possible and stay behind the shields while speaking with the staff. Our debit/credit machines do accept tap, and are disinfected after every use. We can also offer contactless credit card payment using your smart phone.
DURING YOUR TREATMENT:
All of our clinical team members will be wearing full PPE, such as a mask, glasses and gloves, as well as a face shield with cap and isolation gown when needed. Our team members will let you know when it is safe for you to remove your mask and also when to put it back on at the end of the appointment. At the start of each appointment, every patient will also be given a pre-treatment peroxide based mouth rinse to reduce possible virus in the saliva during intra-oral treatment.
VIRTUAL VISITS:
In addition to in-office visits, virtual appointments are available for consultations and discussions regarding treatment, and may also be recommended in order to reduce your number of visits to our clinics. We have many different times available and all you need is a smart phone, tablet or a computer with a camera in order to have a virtual face to face meeting (no mask required).
CLEANING AND DISINFECTION:
Appointments will be spread out and schedules staggered in order to allow time for proper cleaning and disinfection. As always, all surfaces in treatment areas will be appropriately disinfected after patient visits in accordance with Public Health guidelines and high traffic contact surfaces throughout the offices will be disinfected at regular intervals throughout the day.
Continuing to follow these guidelines will help to ensure a safe and comfortable environment for everyone. Underneath these layers of extra protection, rest assured that we are still the same, caring, attentive providers we have always been!
Thank You for your trust in these uncertain times,
Your Smile Centre
