Should I Go to the Orthodontist During a Pandemic?

It’s no secret that 2020 has been a challenging year so far, most notably due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the social distancing measures being put in place to prevent the spread of the disease. Here at Milnor Orthodontics, we are doing everything we can to make sure our patients and staff are kept safe. While we are still seeing current and new patients, visits to our office are looking a bit different these days.

Procedures to Keep Everyone Safe

Here are some additional practices we are putting into place on top of our normal sanitization procedures:

• Our flow of patients each day is being reduced to 30-35% of normal capacity.
• We are reserving special time slots in our office for patients who are more at risk, including patients with asthma, immune disorders, the elderly, and patients with diabetes. During these appointments, we are only allowing one patient inside at a time. We ask that you request these appointments in advance.
• We are screening for possible COVID-19 symptoms before each appointment, including fever, cough, and shortness of breath.
• Each patient is required to wear a mask or face covering whenever possible during appointments.
• All staff members are required to wear approved personal protective equipment (PPE) while at our office.
• We do not have our waiting room open at this time. During appointments, patients are asked to wait outside and text our office number.
• Patients are asked to wait in their vehicles until they receive a text message asking them to come inside.
• Only patients are allowed inside our office during appointment times. If you are a parent or guardian of a child visiting our office, we ask that you remain in the car. The exception to this is if your child is coming in for an initial exam.
• To minimize patient time in the office, patients are to schedule their next exams by calling the office once they return to their vehicles.

These policies are in place to help maintain the safety and well-being of both our patients and our staff so that we can keep creating beautiful, healthy smiles with Invisalign and braces.

Orthodontic Virtual Consults Are Safe and Convenient

In addition to these new procedures for orthodontic visits and checkups, we are also moving as much as we practically can to the digital space to maintain social distancing and protect our patients.

This includes doing virtual consults through our website. By uploading several photos, we can send you an estimate of your best treatment options along with a quote. While this doesn’t replace an in-person initial exam, it’s a great way to get some more insight into what your treatment will be like before you begin. We also offer digital checkups through the Dental Monitoring app to keep an eye on your orthodontic treatment progress in between appointments.

Feel free to contact our office to learn more about how we are helping keep patients safe and to see which orthodontic treatment is right for you!