Patient Safety Protocols

Since re-opening, Dental Specialties has implemented a variety of patient safety protocols.  Sticking with us through the COVID crisis truly means everything to us. Dental Specialties Northwest re-opening on June 2, 2020. While it’s not exactly business as usual, our mission hasn’t changed—we’re here for your smile! Both our clinic and the Columbia Center have implemented some new procedures for your visit, which we want you to be aware of. We’re convinced that our office is extremely safe, and your cooperation will help keep it that way. When we say we’re here for your smile, you can know it’s a commitment to both the expert care you will receive and a promise to make sure you’re safe.

• If you feel ill, please let us know as soon as possible, and we will reschedule your appointment.

Dental Specialties Northwest has always employed the highest standards of disinfection. We’ve now added custom air filtration and whole-room disinfectants. We’re also taking care to keep you socially distanced, limiting your chances of encountering people not associated with your visit. When you arrive in the Columbia Center, please check in with the security guard desk first and then call us at (206) 682-8200 to alert us of your arrival. A member of our staff will come down to the building’s lobby to greet you and take you up to our office.

• Please arrive 10 minutes before your appointment.
• Please come alone. During this time, only patients and staff are allowed in the clinic.
• The building is requiring that you wear a mask or face covering when you enter.

Columbia Center Security personnel have posted instructions for being in the building. One of those is limiting the number of people allowed in the elevator. Be sure to follow their procedures.

• Once in our office, we will take your temperature with a no-touch thermometer and then take you directly to your disinfected treatment room.

Our staff will be following extra screening and protective procedures to ensure your safety. We’re covering most of the cost of these new safety measures but are adding a $15 surcharge to each visit. You’ll be safe in our office.

• We will be self-monitoring the temperatures of staff members at least twice daily.
• Everyone on the staff will be using masks, lab coats, and wear gowns during patient treatments.
• We have taken measures to reduce the aerosols during treatment.
• Our high standards of disinfection have been extended beyond our treatment rooms to the rest of our facility.

We’re so confident that these measures will ensure a safe and comfortable environment, that we’re here too! We’re glad to be back—thank you for coming back also. We’re here for your smile!

Here’s a list of the 20 things we’ve done, to make our office safe: 1. Touchless soap dispenser 2. Isolation gowns for all procedures 3. Surgical/scrub caps for all team members 4. N95 masks 5. PAPRs: Power Air Purifying Respirators for aerosol-generating procedures 6. Extra-oral dental suction systems for 99% aerosol reduction during procedures 7. Air purifiers/ air scrubbers in each operatory and in the reception area 8. A clear screen at the administrative desk in the reception area 9. Touchless thermometers 10. Face shields 11. Temperatures are taken with touch-less thermometers of all team and clientele before entering 12. Hand sanitizer for all entering clientele as entering and leaving the facility 13. Extra time for decontamination between clients (sanitization of each operatory between patients) 15. Establishment of teledentistry for purposes of virtual dental consults and examinations 16. The use of hypochlorous fogging each evening for ongoing anti-viral decontamination 17. Accompanying individuals remain in cars or off-sight during patient treatment times 18. Double masking for team members during all procedures 19. Sanitizing doorknobs, front-desk “window”, during the day and arrival of clientele 20.  Started using the Breathe Clara respiratory for ultimate safety

• National Public Radio (NPR) published a story about dental practices opening during the COVID era. Click here to read that story.