Here at Artistic Dental at the Biltmore, infection control has always been a top priority for our practice and our office follows infection control 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). We have scheduled internal training of the newest sanitation guidelines on May 5th and 6th in anticipation of our reopening on May 7th.
Although we will primarily focus on dental concerns upon our reopening, we will also be scheduling some cleanings. You will see some of the changes we’ve made to help protect our patients and staff when it is time for your next appointment. For example:
- Prior to arriving, screening questions may be sent with your text appointment reminder a few hours before the appointment. We ask that the questions be answered prior to coming into the office.
- Wearing masks or face cloth coverings into the office are welcome, especially if you anticipate any waiting in the reception area. You will find hand sanitizer in the reception area and throughout the office, for you to use as needed.
- Although our reception room is open and available, we ask in the interest of everyone’s safety, for now, for those traveling to our office in their vehicle to remain in their air-conditioned car and call or text us to let us know you have arrived. Those who are walking will be able to wait in our safe, social-distancing reception room to avoid waiting in the heat. There may be less chair availability so we ask that patients come by themselves whenever possible. We will still have bottles of cold water available, but the coffee and creamers will be temporarily unavailable.
- Our kids’ room will be serving a new purpose for the time being and will not be available for the little ones to play in. We will still offer varied hours for appointments to help assist in accommodating patients with that concern.
- Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.
- Updating and filling out new patient information and making payments will be streamlined to text and email. Our front office, assistants, and hygienist team members will be changing their roles to align with the times to create a more efficient check-in and check-out process so that there is no back up at the front desk
We are doing our best to customize the delivery of your care as safely as possible and we appreciate your patience. Although we will reopen on May 7th, our office hours may change slightly and may expand to more Saturday hours to accommodate all the changes.
We look forward to seeing you again and are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we take to keep not only you, but every patient and our team, safe in our practice. To make an appointment, please call our office at 602-840-5400 or visit our website.
Thank you for being our patient. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming back our patients, neighbors, and friends.
Sincerely,
Dr. Dougherty, Dr. Adhikari, and the Artistic Dental Team