New Infection Control Measures in Place at Tonka Smiles

Our team has put together a safety plan to help ensure that our patients and our team members are as protected as possible during this time. We have implemented many new protocols at both the front desk area and clinical areas our of office. Infection control has always been a top priority for our practice and we follow recommendations made by the American Dental Association (ADA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Some of the new front desk and check-in protocols are:

• Temperatures checks – We will take and record the temperatures of everyone when they arrive for their appointment.
• COVID Consent Form – There will be a consent form at the front desk for everyone to sign.
• Wellness Form – Our office will communicate with you beforehand to ask you for some screening questions. You’ll be asked those same questions again when you are in the office.
• Hand Sanitizer – We have hand sanitizers that we will ask you to use when you enter the office and we also have some located throughout the office.
• Masks -We ask that you to wear a mask when coming to your appointment.
• Cleared out Waiting Area -You may notice that we no longer have magazines, children’s toys and so forth available in our waiting room. We have always put away our famous chap-sticks, but we would be more than happy to send you home with one if you would like one.
• Social Distancing – We have separated the chairs in the waiting room and we will do our best to reduce the waiting rimes between patients as well as reduce the number of patients in the waiting area. There are also “X” markers on floor at both check-in and check-out areas.
• Plexiglass – There is plexiglass at the front desk area in front of both the check-in and check-out counters.

As for the clinical area, here are some of the new protocols:

• Rooms Labeled – We have labeled/numbered all of our hygiene and treatment rooms to minimize traffic.
• Rinse – We are having all patients pre-rinse with 1% hydrogen peroxide.
• Air Purifiers – We have installed air purifiers in each room AND high-volume suction devices in each room.
• Goodie Bags – The to go bags have been pre-packed with your toothbrush/floss goodies.
• PLUS, we are still practicing all of our same sterilization and infection control procedures as before!

We hope these new protocols make you feel protected and comfortable during your appointments here. We greatly appreciate your understanding and cooperation at this time!