As of Monday, dental offices province-wide have been given the go-ahead to slowly re-open, as long as specific health measures are taken.
Dr. Mikhail Pliousnine of Simcoe Family Dentistry in Barrie is sympathetic to the feelings of community members who are afraid of what viruses they could possibly be bringing home after venturing outside, which is why he has opted to go above and beyond the recommendations from the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario and the College of Dental Hygienists of Ontario to keep patients and staff safe.
“It’s a tragedy that has happened to our nation and community. We’ve been isolated and there have been deaths all around the city and country,” said Pliousnine.
“I have a family and if I felt too scared to go to work. I would just stay home because I wouldn’t want to harm my family," he said.
“Even before COVID, we were taking precautions to make our office safe for any patient. We have flu season; there are viruses all around us. Infection control has always been a priority for us. Now, it’s also about my staff and my family too,” he added.
Prior to this week, dental offices were to only open for emergency and urgent dental needs. Janet Geisel, office manager for the practice, says that as of Monday those restrictions have been loosened.
“Offices are starting to open up,” said Geisel. “We have been given the go-ahead to open as long as we meet all the requirements.”
Geisel says one of the main challenges the office is facing is accommodating physical distancing.
“We’re making sure we don’t have more than one patient coming through the office at a time,” she said, while clarifying they keep patients apart in separate rooms; preventing them from running into each other in hallways can be difficult.
The reception area at the office isn’t being used currently, with patients being asked to instead wait in their vehicles until it is safe for them to come into the office. No walk-in appointments are being taken at this point.
Any patient coming in for an appointment at Simcoe Family Dentistry completes a screening survey over the phone when their appointment is booked. They go through a second screening when they arrive for their appointment as well.
“We ask about COVID symptoms. Public Health Ontario has provided us with the screening questions,” said Geisel. “When they come into the office, they use hand sanitizer and must be wearing a mask.”
Geisel said patients are then checked for oxygen levels and temperatures before they are shown to a room.
Once in a room, patients are asked to rinse their mouths for 30 to 60 seconds with a pre-rinse that includes peroxide, which helps reduce pathogens in the oral cavity.
Each room also has its own air purifier, and operating rooms are sterilized with UV lights between patients.
“It helps disinfect the environment. It’s something a lot of hospitals use. It’s certainly not mandated by either of our colleges but we’ve added it to the process,” said Geisel.
Geisel says the College of Dental Hygienists of Ontario has advised practices should be limiting the number of any aerosol-generating procedures.
“So we’re doing hand scaling and we’re not doing polishes right now,” said Geisel.
The office has also implemented stringent guidelines for staff on personal protective equipment, having them wear fitted N95 masks.
Overall, Geisel says if you’re in doubt over whether you should visit your dentist at this time, answers are just a phone call away.
“Call your local dentist to see what their protocol is,” she said. “They’ll be able to give you direction on how they’re proceeding to keep everyone safe. That’s the main goal.”
