What You Need to Know About Dental Care During the COVID-19 Shutdown

For all of our patients: Under state mandate, our office is closed for routine dental care until April 30, 2020. We will keep our website updated with any changes to this information, so please check there for the latest news.

Until we are able to fully reopen, we are available for serious dental emergencies and telephone consultations on any area of concern. If you are experiencing a dental issue that needs immediate attention, please do not wait—contact us immediately.

Here is what you need to know about COVID-19, how it affects dental care, and the safety protocols our office has put in place to ensure that you can access critical care with confidence.

What is COVID-19?

This pathogen is a novel coronavirus that emerged in late 2019. Its symptoms include a dry cough and fever, and it can progress to pneumonia serious enough to require hospitalization. Several factors, including the fact that the virus can spread even when those infected do not show symptoms and that it is completely new to humans, has caused it to spread quickly around the globe.

How does this affect dentistry?

While researchers are still learning about COVID-19, we know that it spreads through aerosolized droplets, and that the virus enters the body through the eyes, nose, and mouth. This makes dentists and their patients uniquely vulnerable to transmitting COVID-19 during regular treatment unless mindful precautions are put in place.

How are we protecting our patients?

We’re proud to be one of the few offices in the San Fernando Valley that provides a level of infection control beyond that mandated by federal and state requirements. We’ve made changes to our practice to mitigate the risk presented by COVID-19, including:

• Treating one patient at a time: We will no longer treat multiple patients in our office simultaneously, in order to minimize the risk of patients transmitting the virus to one another.
• Upgraded air filtration: We’ve added HEPA-filtered air scrubbers to remove airborne droplets.
• Enhanced personal protective equipment protocols: All workers will wear appropriate PPE to interact with patients. For example, this means administrative workers will wear face shields and our dental professionals will wear respirator masks and surgical gowns for your protection.
• Hand disinfection stations: Frequent and thorough hand disinfection has been identified as a helpful method for combatting COVID-19, which is why we’ve made it easier for our staff and visitors to disinfect their hands.
• Removing high-touch items: COVID-19 can also be picked up from touching contaminated surfaces, so we have removed books, periodicals, and food stations from our office.
• Longer appointments: In order to implement our new procedures, treatments will take approximately 50 percent longer to complete.

If you have any questions about COVID-19 and dental treatment, please do not hesitate to reach out to our office. We thank you for everything you’re doing to keep our community safe during this crisis, and we look forward to serving you again soon.