Covid 19 - The "New" Way | Treehouse Pediatric Dentistry

Covid 19 - The “New” Way We Offer Services at Treehouse Pediatric Dentistry

Written by Dr. Nasem Dunlop of Treehouse Pediatric Dentistry

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The world has changed so much in the last few months and so has dentistry. Shutting down our office to help “flatten the curve” in Orange County was a hard decision to make but it also allowed time to educate myself and my staff to all the news updates and new guidelines that have been put into place by the many governing bodies of healthcare and dentistry. With this knowledge, we are able to ensure that we providing our patients with a safe, cleanly environment for their dental needs.

If you haven’t visited our office or met me, my name is Nasem Dunlop DMD. I am a board-certified pediatric dentist in Orange County and I own Treehouse Pediatric Dentistry. Along with many dental offices around the country, I closed the doors of my office in Foothill Ranch on March 16, 2020 with the shelter in place order going into effect the very next day. Since then, I have been furiously following all our governing bodies, the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the California Dental Association (CDA), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and Governor Newsom among a few, to understand what the world of dentistry would look like when we got the green light to open our doors again.

I spent countless hours attending webinars and reading papers and guidelines. These are a few things we as a team at Treehouse Pediatric Dentistry in Foothill Ranch, California have done in the past as well as have recently implemented in response to COVID 19 to ensure the health and safety of our patients and team members:

We thoroughly clean and sanitize all equipment, rooms, chairs and office areas prior to every patient appointment. We have always done this, now we have just improved the efficacy. We use medical grade cleaning solutions to ensure we are killing any bacteria or virus left on surfaces.
We are conducting daily health screenings of all our team members and patients. This includes questionnaires and temperature checks.
We have invested in multiple HEPA 13 air purifiers to help filter out any bacteria or virus droplets in our air. This also filters out debris, dust and allergens in our office making it medical grade air quality.
Sneeze guards have been installed around the front desk to help limit any droplet spread.
We are limiting the amount of people in our office by asking that any siblings or family members that do not have an appointment to stay at home and only one adult accompany a patient to their appointment.
We have always used electronic forms for ease. Now we are sending the forms via text for easy completion on your own device to limit the front desk interaction and time spent in the office.
For our team members, we have enhanced our personal protective equipment (PPE) protocol. We are wearing gowns, have “work only” shoes, wearing high level medical masks at all times in the office and utilizing face shields and goggles for all aerosol procedures. You may even see me, Dr. Nasem, in my new tie dyed hair band or pink flower scrub cap!
It is mandatory that our staff wear face masks at all times in the office and we ask that you also wear a face mask or covering while in our office to help decrease droplet spread.
We have and encourage the use of hand sanitizer when you enter and leave the office.
We use a special high vacuum suction device, called Dryshield, during treatment to help eliminate aerosols in the air. We have always used this! Always trying to lower aerosol spread!

I was so happy to get the news in mid May that Orange County dental offices could resume business and we could see all our patients smiling faces again! As always, we hold your family’s health at the highest of priorities, this have never changed. We have always utilized the highest quality sterilization practices and water filtration systems in our office. If you’ve ever visited us, you’ve seen for yourself the cleanliness standards that have always been a part of our philosophy. If you haven’t visited us yet, call today to come see for yourself. We are welcoming new patients and can’t wait to see our current patients! Please call our office if you have any questions or concerns. You can also visit our website: www.TreehousePediatricDentist.com to schedule your appointment online!

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Sincerely,