Covid-19 DrB Dental Update

22 April 2020

Dear Patients:

It has been almost 6 weeks since we closed our dental office due to the government's directive to limit treatment to emergencies only. Many of you with dental urgencies have reached out and we have been able to help over the phone by giving advice and prescribing medications. If the call was for dental trauma (i.e. smashing face), uncontrollable pain or infection not responding to antibiotics, we have referred these patients to specialized dental offices that have all the required protective equipment. We understand that this is not ideal but it is necessary to keep the Covid-19 curve flat here in British Colombia.

Our whole team misses you all and we are now starting to plan when the office will be allowed to reopen. There is talk by the government that this might be by mid May. However, your dental appointments will be very different once we do reopen. There will be many restrictions placed on us to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and protect our team and patients.

Examples of what may be different are: (none of these are for sure yet)

-We may require patients to stay in their vehicles or outside of the building until it is their appointment time and wear a mask upon entering the office.

-You may have your temperature taken.

-You may be asked to wash your hands as you enter the office.

-All paperwork to be completed online on a computer/phone and sent back, or given over the phone. -

No magazines, newspapers, toys etc.

-Only contactless payments may be accepted

-We may be required to wear full protection when treating patients, like they would in a hospital operation room.

-We will require more time between patients to clean all surfaces.

These are just some of the differences that might be implemented. We are still waiting for full directives from the College of Dentists of BC and from the Ministry of Health. Once we have more information, we will start calling patients to rebook and move appointments that were previously scheduled. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Stay safe,

Dr. Eric Bussieres