May 7, 2020

Dear Esteemed Patient:

We hope this letter finds you and your family in good health. While many things have changed, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to your oral health and safety. 

On May 7th, 2020, Governor Larry Hogan lifted the “Stay at home” order and allowed us to return to provide dentistry for our patients. We are excited to see everyone again. As you have already known, cases for Covid-19 are still relevant. We have been working diligently to improve our services and protocols to help prevent the spread of the disease and to protect our team, our patients, and our community. We will resume our services in phases. At this time, for the first two weeks, we will take care of our urgent cases that were postponed during the “Stay at home” order. We will resume the regular hygiene appointments at the beginning of June. 

Our office follows the infection control recommendations put forth by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Maryland Board of Dentistry, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and American Dental Association (ADA). We monitor all updates to stay on top of new rulings or guidelines that are issued. This ensures our infection control procedures remain current and always adhere to all of the mandates and recommendations. Due to these updated guidelines you will see our staff wearing extra protective equipment including gowns, eye protection, bonnets, face shields, and gloves. The ADA has advised all offices to use dental code D1999 to report the excess cost of PPE. Our office will submit code D1999 and charge a fee of $10 to cover the excess expense. If your insurance does not reimburse this added cost of PPE, the $10 charge will be applied to your account.

We have added a few more safeguards around the office to help protect our patients and staff.
These new protocols include for patients:

• A new patient screening form to ask questions regarding COVID-19.  This will be done over the phone or Modento and rechecked when you arrive in the office.  
• We ask you to kindly call us from your car when you arrive to see if your room is ready. Please do not enter the office until our team member requests you to come in.  We are limiting the number of patients in the office and must clean rooms thoroughly before another patient may enter.
• Please wear a mask when you enter the office just like when you enter any other establishment.
• Please remove your gloves and dispose of properly before you enter the office. 
• Your temperature will be taken when you first arrive at the office.
• Hand sanitizer will be available when you enter and you will be asked to sanitize your hands.  Please use these often to maintain clean hands. 
• If you are over the age of 10, you will be required to pre-rinse with 1.5% hydrogen peroxide.
• Each appointment is given an extra 15 minutes to allow for proper disinfection and to adhere to the social-distancing rules. 
• Tele-dentistry: Dr. Yellepeddy will follow up and do post-op via phone or e-mail. If you have any concerns, you can always call our office. 
• You may see that our reception area will no longer offer magazines, children’s toys, and other items that are difficult or impossible to disinfect. 
• Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. This may mean different time options for scheduling your appointment.
• We will do our best to reduce waiting times for you, as well as to reduce the number of patients in the reception area. 
• Only patients are allowed entry within the office. Family members or friends must remain outside in the car. 
• If you are sick and do not feel well, please inform the office immediately. 

New Protocols for the Team:

• Daily health assessment and temperature check of team members at the beginning of the day.
• Full personal protective equipment(PPE) for all surgical team members.
• Mask is worn by all team members at all times. This mask is different than the mask worn during the procedure. 
• Ongoing training on OSHA and infection control protocol and close monitoring for compliance.

New Protocols for the Facility:

• Continuous and thorough disinfection of ALL surfaces in the office
• Partition at the reception desk- All patient check-in is done outside of the office
• Appointments are made in the back or can be done by phone after you leave the office. 
• Touch-less documents and payment processing. If necessary, payment can be done over the phone. 

These additional steps are being taken to keep you safe in our office. We are excited to see you soon and are happy to answer any questions you may have. To make an appointment, please call our office at (240) 477-8251 or visit our website at darnestownsmiles.com.

Thank you for trusting us with your oral health. We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming back our patients, neighbors and friends. Thank you for your understanding and patience during this unusual time.

Warm regards,

Drs. Sridevi Yellepeddy and Hema Patel