New Safety Measures

It seems like just yesterday, we were preparing to open up our Willowdale office, after calling Yonge & Steeles Dental Care home for the past 10-ish years. We can hardly believe it's been several years!!

And now, we are planning for reopening post-COVID-19, to once again, offer non-urgent dental services. We are by no means trying to rush things, but we want to make sure that we go above and beyond to protect all visitors, as well as our team members.

If you had visited our office right before we closed for non-essential dental services, your temperature was taken upon entry to our office. We screened for symptoms over the phone and once you came in. We still do this for our current stream of emergency dental patients - and we've upped our game.

We have installed a new plexiglass window at our reception area. Originally, we avoided this ticketing-booth type design - because we felt that it was a little impersonal. However, in the midst of this COVID-19 Pandemic, we believe it to give both visitors and team members better protection.

We have instructional postings throughout the office - guides that teach people how to properly sanitize their hands, wash their hands, as well as team-specific ones for how to properly put on and remove their personal protective equipment (PPE) to minimize contact with potentially harmful pathogens.

We have ensured that all team members have access to their own PPE, which includes gloves, face masks, as well as facial shields, head cover. We have available surface disinfectant wipes, sprays and bleach, so that they remove pathogens between each patients - especially in high-traffic areas and touch points (like the point of service machine, our computer keyboards, door handles, etc).

We have updated our air filtration system and installed UV-C lights for eliminating pathogenic microbes - there's one area specifically for certain team PPE, so individual face shields and eye protection can be disinfected and decontaminated before they need to use it again the next day. Single-use disposable masks are changed between patients or earlier, if it becomes wet. We also have hand soap, hand sanitizers, single-use paper towels and tissues - but, this has always been the case since we started :D.

And we have changed the visitor experience.

For non-urgent services (like asking the dentist a question, followup appointments for certain treatments like Invisalign®, client concerns, etc, we are now offering TeleDentistry services - where you can communicate with your ALFIE dentist directly through video conferencing (learn more about it here or if you're ready, book here).

For in-office visits, please note that all visitors are now asked to stay in their cars until we call/text you - this is when the dentist is ready to see you. Behind-the-scenes, this allows us the time for preparing your room and the dental equipment we would need for your procedure, minimizing most stop points and reducing the ways communicable infections and diseases can be spread.

Clients will be asked to sanitize their hands and complete any forms before entering the foyer - this is the area between our main door and the sliding doors. One they step through the sliding doors, they will be taken directly to the dentist by our assistant(s) and bypassing the old waiting room. Starting in March, we had implemented the use of non-contact infrared thermometers to take temperatures of all visitors - we are still continuing this practice.

There may be more changes and updates to come, but we are all in this together and we will survive this pandemic together! We will see you soon!