We are excited to welcome patients back into the office! We’ll be reaching out to confirm appointments and to re-book those who had appointments cancelled. If you have a dental emergency, please call us at (604) 732-6623.
We take your health and the health of our staff members seriously. We have a number of systems in place throughout to practice to protect you and staff members. We are using the latest guidance from the BCCDC, the BCCDS and BC Dental Association.
Pre-screening and Social Distancing
We will be pre-screening patients. 48 hours before your appointment, you will be contacted via phone or email and asked a health questionnaire. If you answer yes to any of the questions, your appointment will be rescheduled.
As we are not able to have any people in the waiting room, we will ask you to call when you arrive and wait in your car (or outside of the building) until they are ready to see you. We will contact you on your phone when it is time to come up. We cannot have families or groups coming together. At the most, you can have one person accompany you if this is needed. That person will also be screened with the same health questionnaire. For this reason we are recommending small children delay their appointments in the first phases of our opening.
The Oak Dental Centre is now a ‘mask-required’ environment. Please wear a mask (or face covering) to your appointment. If you do not have one, one will be given to you in the lobby by one of our building concierges. You will be required to wear your mask the entire time you are in the building, with the exception of when you are in the dental chair. You will also be asked to use hand sanitizer as you enter the building and will be asked to use the stairs unless you have limited mobility. The elevator will accommodate only 2 people at a time.
Please try and use the restroom at home or before you get to your appointment. Due to the stringent protocols, it will be quite disruptive to use the washroom during your appointment. All the washrooms will only accommodate one patient at a time and will be sanitized hourly or more.
When you get to your office, you will be asked another health questionnaire to ensure nothing has changed, and your temperature will be taken. If your temperature is above 38 degrees Celsius, your appointment will need to be rescheduled. We unfortunately have to employ a zero tolerance policy for this.
The waiting room will look different as well. Due to the fact that we are trying to maintain surface cleanliness, there will be no pamphlets or magazines. A glass partition has been installed as well.
I know this seems like a lot, and it is. It’s a big change for all of us at Oak Dental Centre. As a dental building, we are used to high levels of infection control and all of these new protocols are to ensure the safety of the patients, the staff and the community as a whole. Bear with us during this time…we are all learning a new normal and your patience and understanding are greatly appreciated.
Office disinfection
High touch surfaces throughout the office are wiped down regularly. Magazines and toys have been removed from the waiting room. Between patients, the consultation room is cleaned and disinfected, and surface barriers are replaced.
Sterilization
All tools are either disposable or thoroughly sterilized between patients. We’re proud to uphold rigorous sterilization procedures at our office.
Air purification
We have medical-grade air purification systems to clean the air in the office. These filtration systems reduce airborne pathogens including viruses and bacteria.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
All our dental healthcare professionals wear personal protective equipment to protect themselves and patients.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Thank you,
Martin Dental