How We Are Protecting You During COVID-19

How We Are Protecting You During COVID-19?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, our office has been postponing routine care and is only open for phone calls and emergency services. Postponing our routine care supports our city and state’s shelter-in-place policies and helps “flatten the curve”. If you believe you have a dental emergency, please do not hesitate to contact us. Our utmost goal is to keep you, as well as our staff, healthy and safe during this time. When the shelter-in-place is removed, we will be available again to help you maintain your oral health through preventative and treatment services.

What can YOU do in the meantime?

• Your daily oral routine: brush twice daily with fluoride toothpaste, floss regularly & rinse with fluoride mouthwash
• Avoid sugary food and drinks to help reduce the risk of cavities
• Avoid eating hard food as it can possibly fracture your teeth
• Use a mouth guard/retainer if you have one

Re-Opening Information & Procedures:

As the situation is constantly changing, we are following all the American Dental Association (ADA) and California Dental Association (CDA) guidelines along with the city and state guidelines on when we can return to the office in full force. Be sure to continue to check our social media as we are actively updating it with information of our status. When we do return, we are asking you to follow certain procedures to avoid crowds for the healthy and safety of everyone in the office.

When You Come Into The Office:

• Please arrive on time
• Please come alone – please do not bring spouses, children, or any other escorts (unless you need assistance)
• Please call us when you arrive – we will let you know when we are ready to have you come upstairs
• If you are feeling ill –
  • Please reschedule your appointment
  • Do not come in if you have a fever or cough
  • Do not come in if you have been exposed to someone who has/had COVID-19

Steps We Are Taking:

Patient safety and sterilization is of utmost concern at Marina Tooth Fairy Dental. We always comply with strict OSHA-mandated protocols to help us maintain a highly sterile environment. OSHA created these guidelines to safeguard against the spread of severely contagious diseases including influenza and coronavirus. We want you to feel safe when you come to our office, below you will find our procedures that we use to keep both you and our staff healthy and safe.

• Employee Health Screening
  • Before returning back to the office, all employees and affiliated providers will undergo detailed background and health history screenings
  • We will be strictly enforcing sick policies
  • Employees who travel outside of the country will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days prior to returning to work
  • Until further notice, all employees will be required to wear masks at all times
  • Employees will have their temperatures monitored daily prior to starting their shift
• Patient Health Screening
  • In accordance with the ADA & CDC guidelines – patients will be asked to complete a COVID-19 screening interview and have their temperature checked upon arrival
  • Non-emergent patients who are experiencing flu-like symptoms (fever, cough, sore throat, nausea, vomiting, difficulty breathing) will be asked to reschedule their appointments
  • Patients who have traveled out of the country will be asked to reschedule their appointments
  • Non-emergent patients with known health risks (65+, pregnancy, lung or heart condition, high blood pressure, diabetes, immunocompromised conditions) will be asked to reschedule their appointments
• Sterilization Procedures
  • To view in full detail Marina Tooth Fairy Dental’s sterilization techniques/patient safety visit our Dental Sterilization Page
  • The foundation of our infection control procedures is based on requirements established by the CDC – all bodily fluids are treated as infectious because patients with blood-borne infections can be asymptomatic or unaware that they are infected
  • Personal protective equipment (PPE) used in the office which includes: gowns, protective-eye wear, face shields, masks & gloves, are washed and disinfected or discarded between each patient to mitigate any patient-to-patient transmission
  • Strict surface sterilization procedures are followed to clean/disinfect all operatory surfaces
  • All dental instruments are cleaned and heat sterilized in steam autoclave machines
  • Office will be sterilized with ultra, low-volume fogger
• Common Area Disinfecting
  • We will be implementing more precautions in all common areas —
    • All magazines and pamphlets are removed
    • All surfaces will be disinfected every hour with Cavicide (CDC-approved commerical sterilization agent): door handles, door knobs, tables, chairs, front office counters
  • A designated team member will be disinfecting the office before and after each patient from top to bottom
• One more step of precaution for you and for us
  • We will also be with a pulse oximeter to check for patients with high risk for COPD
  • Patients will be rinsing with an antibacterial and antiviral mouth wash for 1 minute before and after procedure
  • We are asking that all patients practice social distancing in our waiting area or wait in the car (preferred)
  • Hand sanitizer will be made readily available around the office for easy access by both staff and patients – patient and staff will be required to wash hands/use hand sanitizer before and after procedure

As always, Dr. Benjamin is on-call for emergencies. If you have any questions, please contact us and we will get back to you as soon as we can. 

Stay safe and healthy. We will see you soon!

The Marina Tooth Fairy Team