Dear Patients:

Our community has been through a lot over these last few months, so we sincerely hope your families and you are in good health. As was the case before COVID-19, your health and safety have always been, and will continue to be, our top priority.

With that commitment remaining our focus, we understand the interest and needs of some to begin resuming normal habits and routines, including relevant dental healthcare. After much consideration and discernment, we have decided to proceed with dental care and services through a very responsible and sustainable phase-in approach. For those not yet feeling comfortable going back to business as usual, we fully respect that decision and will be here if you need us for any emergency care,or the time when you are ready to return for routine work.

Please know that every decision we will make has your optimal health at heart. Even though we are a small business, we are first and foremost, a healthcare facility. As we move through our phase-in approach and the coming months, we ask for your extreme patience, flexibility and understanding so that we may properly serve you while simultaneously maintaining our very detailed guidelines for safety.

Standard infection control has always been a top priority for our practice, and our office follows recommendations made by the American Dental Association (ADA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). We follow the activity, new rulings and guidance of these agencies to ensure our procedures are current and we also adhere to each agency’s recommendations. While our office complies with and exceeds all these guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we cannot make any guarantees. To the best of our knowledge, our office staff are symptom-free and have not contracted the virus. However, since we are a place of public accommodation, other persons (including other patients) could be infected, with or without their knowledge.

In order to lower the risk of unintentional exposure, we have adapted our standards, procedures and expectations – both for ourselves and our patients. A summary of these updates you will experience at your next appointment are listed below. We made these changes to help protect our patients and employees and will require all individuals to adhere to these new standards.

Operational Updates

• Installation of exhaust fans in rooms when patient aerosols are being created to draw airflow away from common areas.
• Installation of HEPA filters that will filter the air 12 times per hour, a medical grade standard.
• The addition of more external air entry into our HVAC system.

Procedural Updates

• Whenever possible, we are offering to see whole families for routine appointments to minimize both our employee and patient exposures, and to expediate rescheduling of patients not able to be accommodated during our closure.
• We will pre-screen patients with certain questions both before your appointment and before entry into our facility. This is to ensure your safety and that of other patients and employees.
• We ask that patients remain in their cars upon arrival for their appointments versus coming into our office. Please call our office line (404-325-5440) upon arrival so an employee can come outside to greet you at your vehicle and register you.
• We will take the temperature of each patient or individual prior to his/her entry into the office
• We will ask all patients and individuals to properly wear masks while in the office.
• Our waiting room will no longer offer magazines and children’s areas as these items are difficult to clean and disinfect.
• Appointments will be made to allow for social distancing between patients.
  
  **This may result in fewer options for scheduling your appointment. Please understand we are doing so with your health and safety in mind.

We look forward to seeing you again and are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we take to keep you and every patient safe in our practice. We value your trust and loyalty, and are excited to responsibly welcome back our patients, neighbors and friends.

Sincerely,

Dr. Elise L. Ashpole and Team