What does "Doctor Directed Care" really mean and Why do Orthodontists choose Invisalign as their aligner system of choice for removable treatment?
As you are aware, Governor Hogan announced a State of Emergency in Maryland. With schools and large events cancelled for the coming weeks, we felt it prudent to review our everyday patient and operator protection procedures with you.
There is a term used in the health care industry called "Universal Precautions". If you have any experience in the medical field you will know these two words VERY well. It is the term used to describe everyday protocol to protect patients and health care professionals from getting each other sick. It has become so ingrained into our psyche that it is second only to breathing for most healthcare providers.
It is important to understand; the most likely cross contamination issue we deal with everyday is viruses. In orthodontics, we do not use needles, draw blood or drill into a tooth. There are many organisms that typically live in the mouth, good and bad. Our concern of course, is the the bad ones. Viruses are transmitted by droplets originating from the mouth, nose and lungs of an infectious person, landing on surfaces or being breathed in close contact.
Here is what our doctor and clinicians do everyday, to protect themselves and you:
Gloves, changed for every patient, of course. We prepare our work area to limit the need to touch anything "extra" while working with patients.
Barrier Protections-
CDC approved disinfection wipes are used to clean all hard surfaces that do not come in direct or may be in limited contact with the mouth after each patient.
Disposables-
Everything that can be heat sterilized, gets placed into our autoclave (steam) sterilizer. (Those crinkly bags we rip everything out of..those came from a sterilizer, and remain stored in their bags until use.) our sterilizer is continually spore tested for efficacy.
At lunch time and at the end of our day, we perform typical housekeeping. Cleaning bathrooms, sinks, etc.
Additionally, while we are dealing with this highly infectious virus we are doubling our efforts to ensure that soft surfaces used in our common areas are "fumigated" with Lysol, removing all toys from our children's reception room, wiping down public items such as light switches twice a day instead of our usual once a day.
Our list is long, as it should be. There are only a few things we need our patients to consider carefully before electing to come in to our office for your appointments.
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