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We’re All In This Together.

Staff | April 2020

At EJL, our practice focuses on prevention and advocacy. On most days, we are promoting optimal oral health. Today, however, we are focused on preventing our patients, team members and doctors from COVID-19.

As healthcare experts in the media and on the frontlines have repeatedly discussed, we should all do our best to follow the rules. These include: 

• Wash your hands often for at least 20 seconds
• Don’t touch your face
• Practice social distancing
• Cover coughs and sneezes
• Clean and disinfect frequently used surfaces

Though we’re all thrown off of our regular routines, we also encourage you to still be dedicated to your dental hygiene while at home. Brush twice a day, floss once a day and ensure you help your kids do the same. If you are an orthodontic patient who would like more information on what this means for your treatment, this article may be helpful. Click here

You’re not alone in this-- we are also following the rules outlined by the American Dental Association, American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, the CDC and local and federal officials. Here’s why the rules are important in dentistry:

• The mouth - the very site of this virus is where we work! Many of our instruments that we need to use to get our job done create aerosols out of saliva, water and potentially the coronavirus. We can wear masks and gloves, but the doctors, team members and patients may take some of that aerosol with them when they go...and that may expose others in our community. With so much about this virus still unknown, we need to take these precautions very seriously. Our national dental organizations have recognized that the procedures that we do on a daily basis can be very dangerous to our team members, other patients and our community and have mandated that we not perform any procedures that are not considered to be emergencies.

• Limitations on supplies - making sure they are available to our friends on the frontlines. We are not stockpiling supplies in our practice so that our emergency medical crews, nurses, doctors, and caregivers in hospitals and nursing homes can have more access to masks, gloves and disinfectants that will keep them safe and help save lives!

We want to prevent patients from seeking care in an urgent care facility or ER, so in the event of a dental emergency in which any delays can place a patient in a harmful situation, we are still here for you. Our pediatric dentists, general dentist and orthodontist are still on call for your dental emergencies. You can call the office at (301) 881-6170 for further instructions on how to reach the doctor on call.

Once our limitations on procedures are lifted, we will be back focusing on advocating for good oral health! If you are a patient whose appointment was canceled or rescheduled, please know that we will make sure to have appointments available. We’ll be adding weekday and Saturday hours to accommodate patients whose appointments had to be canceled. Until then, please be safe and healthy.

In health and happiness,

Drs. Ensor, Johnson and Lewis