Dear Friends,
We wanted to address the COViD19 virus that is circulating our population and dominating our attention in the last few weeks.
As a great country, we have dealt first hand with threats from HIV/Aids, Swine flu, H1N1, MERS, SARS to name the most well known. In addition, every year in the “flu season” we see patients who have had the flu or have recently recovered. Furthermore, hepatitis in its many forms, HPV, herpes, etc. etc. all are part of our everyday existence as your dentist and dental team.
We have always followed every CDC guideline and continue those practices each day. We have never had one incident of a team member to patient transmission or a patient to team member transmission of any illness or condition in my practice. We ensure that all of us do everything daily to provide you with a safe and disease-free environment to receive your dental care. We teamed up with a 3rd party inspection company years ago to help be maintain the upmost standards. We are prepared for this situation as well.
In saying that, we have not changed anything in regards to our sterilization practices or cleaning and disinfecting our treatment rooms between patients. We have ten minutes at the end of each visit set aside to clean and disinfect each treatment area. Many of you over the years have complimented the hygiene of my office and we have always made it the number one priority in our practice. We do not overbook our schedule as you have experienced. We do not have a cramped reception area overflowing with people. We have always thought that it is important to respect your time and provide comfort and space in that area. We clean the reception area multiple times a day.
The office building has intensified the cleaning of the public areas of our building. Additional people have been added for the cleaning of the doors, door handles, railings and patient areas with disinfecting wipes. We have also implemented 2 medical-grade air purification systems that kills bacteria and viruses in the air. This a system used by hospitals.
We want you to know that you are safe here to receive your needed care. My team is safe working here for you. We are operating business as usual. We have an ample supply of gloves, masks and protective disinfectant material on hand.
While we are concerned about this virus, I am also concerned about delaying needed dental care including regular preventive visits. As well as we know about infectious diseases, We are certain that not getting the care you need and neglecting routine preventive cleanings always leads to more extensive and expensive dental treatments later that will have a direct impact on you long after we have solved this public health threat.
Feel free to call us directly at 972-596-3702 if you have any questions or send me an email with your thoughts. All of you have supported us and we are extremely thankful for each one of you. We are taking this seriously and constantly monitoring with updates from our Texas State Board and CDC which currently approves offices like ours to remain operational with our high standards.
Sincerely,
Dr. Jacob Grapevine, Staff and Family