The challenging part was scheduling conflicts, longer appointments, extra safety measures and protocols in place and everything that came with it! We are trying a virtual waiting room now, meaning that we discuss financials and treatment over the phone as much as possible, to minimize the Patients' time in office as much as possible. We also have an extra form to fill in, and we do a COVID-19/antibodies rapid screening test before the appointments. We also do a screening of all the Patients and take their temperature, and that takes time and it's a little challenging to have just 1 Patient at the time in our waiting room.
But for the most part everyone understands how this is necessary and we are all working hard to make it work as seamlessly as possible.
We also have to wear gowns and masks, and protective shields and extra head coverings and shoe covers and other safety equipment for all the procedures. We use a vacuum for enhanced suction, we also have medical grade HEPA filters. We have to change the gowns after Patients and certain procedures, we also use several N95 masks a day (each of us!) so that is a lot of extra cost for our office. That's why most dental offices today charge an extra fee for all the Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), and we have to also.
Right now we are backed up with all the dental cleanings that are overdue after the Shelter in Place period when we were closed for 2 months, and we are working on opening one more day a week of Hygiene to bring everyone up to date.
