Reopening Letter

We hope this letter finds you and your family in good health. Our community has been through a lot over the last few months, and all of us are looking forward to resuming our normal habits and routines. While many things have changed, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to your safety and the safety of our team.

Infection control has always been a top priority for our practice, and you may have seen this during your visits to our office. Our infection control processes are made so that when you receive care, it’s both safe and comfortable. We want to tell you about the infection control procedures we follow in our practice to keep patients and our team safe.

Our office follows infection control recommendations made by the American Dental Association® (ADA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). We follow the activities of these agencies so that we are up to date on any new rulings or guidance that may be issued. We do this to make sure that our infection control procedures are current and adhere to each agency’s recommendations.

You may see some changes when it is time for your next appointment. We made these changes to help protect our patients and staff. For example:

• If you had a postponed appointment or emergency care during the shutdown, we will call you to reschedule. We appreciate your patience while working though our list.
• If you already have an appointment scheduled, you will receive a call from us to confirm your appointment or offering to change your date and or time. We appreciate your understanding as we navigate this safer way to practice.
• Our office will communicate with you beforehand to ask some screening questions and update and confirm health histories. You’ll be asked those same questions again when you are in the office.
• We have hand sanitizer that we will ask you to use when you enter the office. You will also find some in the reception area and other places in the office for you to use, as needed.
• Upon entering our office, your temperature will be taken, and you will be asked screening questions again.
• When you arrive at our office, please wear a mask or face covering. If you do not have one, we will provide one.
• You will notice that we have spread out our chairs in the reception area so that they are six feet apart and have designated family areas. We also ask that people who do not have appointment to not enter our office.
• You may see that our waiting room will no longer offer magazines, children’s toys and so forth, since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect.
• Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.
• We will do our best to allow greater time between patients to reduce waiting times for you, as well as to reduce the number of patients in the reception area at any one time.
• We are also going to keep our building cooler than normal due to new PPE requirements. You may want to dress warmer than normal!

We look forward to seeing you again and are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we take to keep you, and every patient, safe in our practice. To make an appointment, please call our office at 563-927-4746 or visit our website at www.manchestersmiles.com

Thank you for being our patient. We have missed you! We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming back our patients, neighbors and friends.

Sincerely,

Dr. Tim Collier

Dr. Zach Stecklein

The Team at Dental Associates