Covid 19

Dear patients,

The health and safety of our patients and team is of the utmost importance to us. There are a few changes that we have made to keep everyone safe during this gradual reopening. As we are still in a pandemic, there are certain patients and dental procedures that will be prioritized over others. There may be some elective dental treatments that we may recommend waiting on until we are out of this pandemic. However, urgent conditions such as cavities, tooth or gum infections, jaw pain, hygiene visits or broken/cracked teeth must be treated to prevent further damage to the teeth and the gums.

We will be in touch with you if you have any upcoming scheduled appointments. Please contact us if you do have emergency or urgent dental needs and we will triage them accordingly.

As Dr. Bonnie Henry has repeatedly instructed us, the best way of reducing Covid-19
transmission is staying home if we (or someone in our household) are not feeling well. So we ask you to please do not come to the office,

• if you have any symptoms of sore throat, coughing, loss of taste/smell, sneezing,

  fever, difficulty breathing, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.

• if you have had close contact with anyone who has these symptoms.

• if you have returned from travelling internationally within the last 2 weeks.

You must be symptom free for at least 14 days before we can make an appointment for you. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR YOUR SAFETY AND THE SAFETY OF ALL OF US. The same rule applies to all of our team at the office.

The following are the measures we have taken in addition to the strict infections control guidelines that we have always followed:

• We have established a Covid Questionnaire that will be done over the phone 48-72 hours before your arrival to the office and repeated again up on your arrival to the office.
• Magazines, water cooler, and most of the chairs have been removed from our reception area. We have placed 3 hard plastic chairs to allow for adequate disinfection and proper physical distancing.
• Hand sanitizing stations are put in place for patients at the entry to the office and in all operatories.
• Plexiglass barriers placed in reception area. We ask that most payments be done touchless or over the phone if possible.
• All staff have been equipped with proper PPE including gowns, masks, face shields, headcovers.
• All members of the team will have a Covid screening completed and recorded every morning and their temperature taken and recorded twice a day. Any staff with any symptoms will go home immediately and this may impact our ability to keep your appointments. Hopefully this does not happen very often.
• Our protocols have always been to disinfect all surfaces after all dental appointments. However, we will be increasing disinfection of high contact surface areas including door handles, and countertops and waiting room chairs.
• Our in office restroom is closed for public use for the time being with exception of any emergencies of course! Please plan ahead if possible and use the building restroom prior to your visit to our office.

BEFORE YOUR APPOINTMENT:

In advance of your appointment, a member of our staff will be in touch with you to go through a COVID SCREENING questionnaire.

AT YOUR APPOINTMENT:

– Please come to your appointment wearing a mask or other facial covering. We will be happy to provide one if you need one.
– Please call us from you car upon your arrival to the office so we can be ready for you and do not enter the office until we have confirmed with you.
– When you come up to the office please disinfect your hands first and then take a mask if you are not wearing one.
– We will review the COVID SCREENING questionnaire with you again, take your temperature and then a team member will take you to the treatment room.
– If you are coming to the office with someone else, we politely request that they stay in the car unless the patient is infirm or a child. All of these measures are done to minimize the number of people in the dental office at one time to maintain social distancing measures.
– Once in the treatment room, you will be given a special mouth rinse prior to your dental
treatment.
– Hand sanitizers will be available throughout the dental office for you to use before and after your dental appointment.
– Depending on the type of appointment, Enhanced PPEs may be used, including cap, gowns, face shields, and respirator masks. We apologize for our unrecognizable looks!

We understand that this “new normal” is going to be very strange and somewhat inconvenient for everyone. Know that we are doing our best to keep everyone safe and to still provide you and your family with the best dental care that we can. We thank you for your understanding.

As Dr. Bonnie Henry says: “This is not going to be forever, but it is for now.” and “Be kind, be
calm, be safe!”

In health,
Dr. Hehn and Dr. Izadnegahdar and the Metrotown Dental Clinic team

COVID-19 questionnaire

Please read the patient acknowledgement, and initial or sign in all areas indicated on the day of your appointment.

We recommend downloading this form and submitting securely using our HIPAA Compliant encrypted email. Do not fill out in your browser. You may also print it once filled out.  If you need assistance with the form, please contact our office.

To view and submit the form use Adobe Reader, which you can download for free here:

• Covid-19 Acknowldgement Form
• Covid Procedures PDF