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We Are So Happy To Be Able To Reconnect With You All!

Staff | June 2020

Since the Covid-19 pandemic reached our area, our health and efforts to stop the spread of this disease have depended on some strict precautionary measures. Washing hands, disinfecting physical spaces as often as possible, wearing a face mask, and social distancing have all played a major role in allowing us to fight this disease together. 

As you know, we decided to temporarily limit our dental care to only emergencies for everyone’s well being. The time we spent social distancing has not been ideal for us but it was necessary. We appreciate everyone’s patience during this unpredictable time. We are now super excited to welcome you back to our practice! We look forward to reconnecting and catching up with you all! As a gentle reminder, here are our safety protocols and we kindly ask that they are followed:

1. All patients will be emailed a link to a Wellness Survey and updated Informed Consent that must be filled out in the 24 hours prior to EACH APPOINTMENT. We ask that you please fill out the survey electronically and return prior to your appointment.
2. All people entering our office must be wearing a mask. We are only able to stock enough disposable masks for the use of our staff. As such we are asking persons to bring their own mask.
3. All people entering our office will have their temperature taken (forehead thermometer) and will be provided with hand sanitizer to use.
4. Our reception area will mostly be closed. This means we will ask that patients wait in their car until their treatment chair is ready. Please arrive 5 minutes early and text (301) 881-6170 when you arrive. While you wait, please fill out the wellness survey attached to your appointment reminder if you have not already completed it. We cannot see any patient who has not filled out this form prior to each visit.
5. We will try to limit the number of people in the office as much as possible, so we request that adult and older juvenile patients come in for their appointments alone. For our younger patients, or those that require special assistance, one adult may accompany the patient – this person will also be asked to wear a mask and have their temperature taken. Please no siblings without appointments or other guests. Though our favorite part of our office is the family atmosphere, right now we have to love the whole family from afar.
6. Half the usual number of patients will be seen in the clinic area at a time, and patients will be seated as far apart as possible. Our tooth-brushing area will be closed to prevent cross contamination, so please brush and floss well prior to the appointment. This “socially distant scheduling” will unfortunately make finding the perfect appointment time a little more difficult. We understand many of our patients are concerned about not having been seen in our office for some time. We empathize 100%, and so we will be working very hard to catch up on thousands of missed appointments. We will have to see every patient in the order that they were originally scheduled, unless there is an urgent concern. We are committed to getting everyone back on track.
7. We may look a little bit different at your appointment! Many dental and orthodontic procedures generate dental aerosols and special personal protective equipment and measures will be required for our doctors and team members for these procedures. These steps in particular are very important to significantly minimize the risks to all staff and patients in our office, and so we cannot be as flexible on scheduling these types of appointments as we were in the past.  Thank you for your understanding and patience!
8. Our entire team is undergoing additional training to safely work in our new environment, and have the full protections recommended by all regulatory bodies. The entire EJL Team will also undergo daily temperature checks and screening questions to monitor our own health.
9. We have Teledental and Teleortho appointments available. Some appointments, like orthodontic observations, retainer monitoring and aligner progress checks, are easy to conduct virtually. You may also request a virtual appointment for any orthodontic treatment status if you would feel more comfortable working remotely with us for the time being. Some emergency dental exams can also be offered virtually. Depending on your emergency, you may be directed to send photographs of the area and a member of our Triage Team will contact you to determine the ability to conduct a virtual visit. This will save you a trip while promoting social distancing as well.

We are elated to see you all again even if it means under certain restrictions! We are doing our absolute best to be accommodating to everyone’s appointments. We look forward to seeing you and your family so that we can catch up AND take care of your dental needs!