Covid 19

Changes in Protocol Due to COVID-19

Arbor Hills Dental began opening in phases on May 5, 2020 in accordance to the Governor’s Executive order.

The safety of our patients and staff are of utmost importance.  We have always employed stringent protocols for infection control in our practice.  We have been working tirelessly to stay abreast of new guidelines issued by the Oregon Health Authority to make our protocols even better.  Additionally, we have evaluated recommendations from federal agencies (CDC, FDA, OSHA and EPA) and best practices from throughout the world.

The following is a summary of our new protocols.  Please note that each dental practice may do things a little differently based on their unique needs.  Our goal is the same -- keep patients and staff safe and healthy.  All new equipment and materials for infection control have been thoroughly researched for scientific merit and efficacy.

If you are one of our current patients, you will notice some changes to your dental appointment. These changes are not meant to inconvenience or annoy you but to protect everyone coming into the practice. The changes start before your appointment with a pre- screening for COVID-19 related symptoms and to determine your risk level for COVID-19 based on your age and general health.  We may determine that re-appointing you will be best for your current health status.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – you will notice that our clinicians will be wearing additional PPE.  While we take extra precautions to ensure our staff is not infected, no testing is 100% effective and as such, the extra PPE is as much for your safety as it is for theirs.

Arriving to your appointment:

  • Please arrive at your designated appointment time.  In order to maintain social distancing and allow our clinicians ample time to prepare treatment rooms, we are carefully coordinating arrival and departure times for all patients.  Showing up early or late to your appointment will affect this coordinated effort.  If you are early, please wait in your vehicle until your appointment time.
  • Extra guests are not permitted in the office.  Exceptions are for minors or special needs patients who should be accompanied by only ONE family member or guardian.  All other guests or patients should wait in their vehicles or come back later.  We can text or call you when the patient is ready for pick up.
  • Please use the provided hand sanitizer to clean your hands and put on a mask.  We encourage you to bring your own mask to help conserve PPE.   A mask must be worn while in the clinic.  Our front office staff will go through a questionnaire and take your temperature.  Anyone with a temperature of 100.4⁰ or higher will be re-appointed.
  • One of our clinicians will escort you to your treatment room.

During your treatment:

  • All patients will be given a pre-procedural cleansing mouth rinse prior to treatment. This helps to significantly reduce intra-oral bacteria and viruses.
  • New and different high volume suction devices will be used during your treatment.  We may use multiple devices concurrently during aerosol producing procedures.  For your comfort, we have disposable ear plugs if you find these devices to be too loud.

After your treatment:

  • We will have you put on your mask and wait in the treatment room until an available front desk team member can assist you.
  • Our staff will thoroughly disinfect the treatment room.  In addition to our previous cleaning protocols we will be using a powerful disinfectant mist and fog that has been approved for use against coronavirus.
  • Our entire office will be fogged with this disinfectant multiple times a day.
  • All touch surfaces will be cleaned multiple times a day.

Please understand that these protocols may change as new guidelines from the Oregon Health Authority and other agencies are revised.  We will do our best to keep you informed.

Dr. Toy and her staff are committed to doing the best for you and your family.  We feel confident that we are providing a safe environment for you to receive your dental care.  If you are not ready to see us yet, we understand.  We are here for you when you are ready to return!