Information on Office Policies Regarding COVID-19

We hope that each of you are taking care of yourselves during this time of uncertainty and know that our thoughts are with each one of you every day.  We are looking forward to getting back to “our new normal” while being respectful and compliant with governing bodies slowly lifting these mandates.

Plaza Midwood Dentistry has been closely following the recommendations that the CDC, American Dental Association, and NC Board of Dental Examiners have provided. As of Monday, May 4, we will begin seeing patients for routine dental care. We are beginning with a “soft opening” and working our way back to a normal schedule.

During our time away from you all, the Plaza Midwood Dentistry team has done extensive training and has put new protocols in place to align with our values of your safety being our top priority. We would love to share briefly some of the new changes that help ease your concerns about returning back to your dental home. (Important: if you don’t want to read all points below, please scroll to the bottom for action points that you will need to know before your appointment).

What New Changes should I anticipate seeing when I come to my appointment?

  • Before your appointment, we are asking everyone to update your health history on our website from home to minimize use of iPads and keyboards
    • Visit Patient Forms
    • Click on “Existing Patient Update.”
    • Create an account. We will approve your account within 24 hours (during weekdays)
    • Once your account has been created, you will receive an email and you can re-enter the portal to update your forms online as long as your appointment is within the next 3 weeks
    • There is additional information as well such as account information, appointment information and billing information
  • We will be taking the temperature of all team members every morning. Any team members with symptoms or a fever (>100.4° F) will not be allowed to work
  • When you arrive, we will strive to have ZERO wait times
    • We will ask you to confirm you have not had any fever, shortness of breath, dry cough, or contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 14 days. If you have, we may ask you to reschedule your appointment
    • We will take your temperature with a touchless forehead thermometer
      • Your temperature will need to be <100.4° F to be seen unless it is a life-threatening emergency
    • We will escort you back to your room without sitting in the reception area
    • If there is anyone already in the reception area, we ask that you wait on the designated social distancing marks outside until we call you inside
  • We ask that you wear your own mask to the office and keep it on unless receiving treatment in the chair
  • We ask that you do not bring any other people with you to your appointment. Only scheduled patients will be allowed in the office
    • This will cut down on contact in the reception area
    • As always, parents of minors may accompany patients in the treatment rooms
    • Others will be asked to wait in their cars and we will call them once the procedure is finished
  • Staff will be wearing additional PPE items such as masks and other gear that will keep everyone safe and healthy during this time. Do not let this alarm you. We are taking the precautions to keep you safe
  • We have removed magazines and the coffee items from the reception area
  • We will be asking you to rinse with a hydrogen peroxide rinse before your appointment for 60 seconds to help reduce viral load
  • We will be using High Volume Evacuations/Suction during your appointment to help reduce aerosols
  • We have installed protective shields for checking in and checking out to protect patients and team members from droplets
    • We will ask you to stand behind the shields and not to the side of them
  • We have established contactless payment methods to allow you to insert a credit card without having to hand it to a team member
  • We can email receipts to you rather than handing paper copies when possible. If you require a paper receipt, we will provide it
  • We will be decontaminating common areas, bathrooms, door handles, and surfaces at least every hour
    • This is in addition to the already existing decontamination methods we utilize for treatment areas
  • We will eventually be adding additional hours to accommodate the backlog of patients. See below for more information
  • The added hours means we will have additional new team members – including a dentist, assistants, hygienists, and patient coordinators. As always, we will always provide the best care possible and strive for excellent customer service

 Continuing Excellence during the pandemic:

  • Continue using paperless charts and forms to reduce possible contamination
    • We are asking everyone to update your health history on our website from home before your appointment to minimize use of computer keyboards and iPads
  • Continue the already established strict sterilization and disinfection protocols for instruments and treatment areas as recommended by the CDC
    • Our surface disinfectants have a 1 minute kill time of the Coronavirus as well as other contaminants
  • Continue the already established testing of sterilization methods for instruments recommended by the CDC
  • Continue the already established testing of waterlines that is not required but we do to ensure your safety

Summary of action items above:

  • Please complete your paperwork online before your appointment
  • Please wear a mask to our office
  • Only the patient being seen is allowed in the office
  • If you have had any COVID-19 symptoms in the last 2 weeks or have had contact with a person that has tested positive for COVID-19, please let us know and we can reschedule your appointment

If you do not feel comfortable coming to our office at this time, we completely understand your concerns. Your feelings are valid and we respect those. We will still be offering teledentistry services if you have a dental concern and would prefer a virtual consultation. Please call us at 704.837.8480 to schedule a virtual consultation. If you would feel more comfortable having your non-emergency dental care performed in the future, we will be glad to find a time that fits your needs.

We are now operating during the following hours daily:

Monday 7 am – 5 pm
Tuesday 7 am – 5 pm
Wednesday 7 am – 5 pm
Thursday 7 am – 5 pm
Friday 8 am – 2 pm

We know that in the past it may have been difficult to find an appointment time to accommodate you immediately if you needed to reschedule your cleaning appointment. We believe that these additional hours will help to better accommodate the needs of our patients, particularly those that may not be able to take time off during the normal workday.

We will also be hiring additional team members to allow for these hours. We will try our best to accommodate requests for a particular provider but please realize that we are also only human and will not be able to fulfill this schedule with only our current amazing team. We will always work to provide the highest quality patient care and customer service as we grow. We are confident in the new team members and are excited to have additional members of our dental family!

We are excited to see you again and look forward to taking care of all your dental needs. We want to encourage you to contact us if you have any questions or concerns. We will be glad to discuss any concerns you have.

We can be reached by phone at (704) 837-8480 or by email at smile@pmdent.com and will respond as soon as we can. Until then, please keep smiling and brushing! We look forward to seeing each of you soon.

Sincerely,

Mike Farmer and the Plaza Midwood Dentistry Team

Plaza Midwood Dentistry

1308 The Plaza Suite F, Charlotte, NC 28205