At your next appointment, you will notice and experience several changes that have
been implemented to protect our patients.
Please take a moment to learn more about your visit to the DCG.
- We will communicate with you 2-3 days before your appointment to ask some COVID-19
screening questions. You will be asked the same questions again upon arrival for your appointment as well
as having your temperature assessed, and your provider (dentist, student, resident,
and hygienist) will review your responses to those questions as part of your health
history update for your health record.
- Patients requiring Aerosal Generating Procedures (for example, fillings, crowns,
sealants, or cleanings using special instruments) will be required to present recent
COVID 19 test results.
Patient without test results from a healthcare provider administered test taken within 48 hours of their
appointment will be required to take a rapid screening BEFORE their appointment. Please see our Frequently Asked Questions about COVID 19 Rapid Screening.
Patients who travel a great distance to the Dental College are encouraged to test
within 48 hours (72 hours if appointment is on Monday or Tuesday) ahead of their appointments
and bring the results of the healthcare provider administered test with them.
- Appointments will be managed to allow clinical distancing between patients in our clinics and social distancing in the common spaces (hallways, elevators, etc.) throughout our building. That means you may be offered fewer options for scheduling
your appointments than existed pre-COVID-19. Results from home self-tests will not
be accepted.
- In order to comply with acceptable social distancing protocols in the building, visitors
will not allowed to accompany adult patients to their appointments. There may be exceptions based on individual circumstances
(such as adults requiring care-giver assistance) to be determined on a case-by-case
basis. Pediatric patients and minors may be accompanied by one adult parent or legal
guardian.
- You will be required to wear a face covering throughout your visit to the DCG, except during active treatment. If you do not have
an acceptable face covering, one will be provided for you.
- There will be new signage outside and throughout the inside of the DCG with instructions about your appointment and to provide information about safe practices
as you move through the building.
- We will provide hand sanitizers for you to use when you enter the DCG. There will also be hand sanitizing stations
located in other areas of the building for you to use as needed.
- You will see that our clinic reception areas (“waiting rooms”) will have floor spacing
markers and reduced seating for social distancing, and they will no longer include magazines,
children’s toys, and other small, high-touch items that are difficult to clean and
disinfect.
- You will notice that a limited number of chairs will be used in our clinics. This change is to help us maintain appropriate clinical
distancing in our treatment areas.
- You will notice different types of masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face shields, hair bonnets, shoe covers etc. being worn by providers and
attending faculty during your appointment for your safety and the safety of our students,
residents, faculty and staff.
- We have installed clear barriers (“sneeze guards”) in our business offices and at our reception desks for the safety of both the patients
and the staff that you will normally interact with before and after your appointment.
