Covid-19 Precautions

Dr. Amble and Dr. Mulligan have always made the dental and overall health of their patients at Grand Avenue Dental their top priority. They, as well as the their staff, are taking the Covid-19 pandemic every bit as seriously as they do everything else about the care of their patients. As required by the CDC and the Minnesota State Board of Dentistry prior to reopening, we developed our own personalized Covid-19 Facility Plan and Respirator Protection Plan. We would like to share below some of the details of these plans, designed to protect our staff and all the patients that visit our clinic.

General communications:

• We formalized our employee daily health check, including temperature checks. We take great care not to come to work sick
• Patient day-before pre-screening checklist. Because such a high number of Covid-19 positive cases are asymptomatic, we follow CDC guidance in our pre-screening questionnaire
• Patient day-of health checklist, including temperature checks
• We have instigated one-way traffic within our building to minimize patient interactions with other patients
• Our providers and staff  make use of “Virtual waiting rooms” created by texting and telephone options to manage traffic within our facility

Facility modifications:

• UVC infrared lights were added to each room and are used to sanitize the entire treatment room between each patient
• Hepa-filter fans were added to each room and are used during all procedures in every treatment room
• A clear consumer shield has been added at the front desk
• Hand sanitation stations have been added throughout the facility and each person entering the building is asked to clean their hands as they enter
• N2O systems have been upgraded for ease of cleaning and sanitation

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) changes:

• Every person that enters the building is required to wear a mask as they enter and keep the mask on until notified by their dental provider that they are ready for them to remove it
• All staff members wear masks from the time they enter the building and are wearing scrubs (including office staff) which are washed on-site every day
• Staff PPE now includes head coverings, face shields, glasses, N95 respirator masks covered by surgical masks, gloves, and disposable or washable gowns (changed for each patient)

Procedural updates:

• Procedural standards have been changed for aspirating and non-aspirating dental treatments
• Building flow routines are new and designed to minimize traffic interaction
• Payment systems have been upgraded to allow patients to more easily store payment options for future use

While in life, as with Covid-19, there are no guarantees, we are confident that with our changes we are doing everything in our power to keep ourselves and our patients safe. If you have further questions please feel free to chat with Dr. Amble, Dr. Mulligan, or one of our staff members.