DEAR PATIENTS,

First and foremost, the health and safety of our staff, patients and visitors remain a top priority.

Following on from my message on 18 March 2020, the situation surrounding us now in relation to COVID-19 has evolved faster than we anticipated. (Please refer to that post for more details on our response to the situation).

In accordance with the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee and the Australian Dental Association: All routine and non-urgent dental treatments should be deferred to a later stage.

We will remain OPEN at a reduced capacity temporarily to be able to provide urgent and EMERGENCY dental treatments only as we implement Level 3 restrictions at this time.

Many of our pre-booked appointments that don’t fall under the category mandated by the government will be deferred to a later date. When it is safe to do so, we will let you know so you can see your favourite dentist/s again.

This is a situation that no one has imagined we will be faced with. As the world continues to struggle with the COVID-19 crisis and its impact on what we all used to call our normal lives, we are all trying our best to manage what we can under the circumstances.

Please rest assured that our stringent infection control measures are in place, as it has always been, plus additional cleaning and disinfecting protocols have been put into place so that we continue to protect our staff and our patients.

If you are a long-term patient, you’ll find that the place looks different to what it used to be due to social distancing and prevention of contamination of unnecessary surfaces.

The magazines and books, toys and other items have been removed.

Our protocols for welcoming patients has been adjusted in accordance with the social distancing mandate, ie - Please wait in your car, call us to inform us that you have arrived for your appointment, and we will let you know if it’s your turn to go into the surgery rooms. This helps reduce traffic in the waiting room.

You will be asked to sanitise your hands as you arrive with the hand sanitiser provided at reception, when you finish your appointment and as you complete the necessary paperwork and payments at reception.

Please swipe or tap your card and avoid paying cash.

To reiterate what we said in the March 18 message, all our patients will be subject to a triage process wherein we will ask the following:

• Have you travelled overseas or interstate in the past 14 days?

• Do you feel unwell, including but not limited to symptoms of COVID-19 such as fever, cough, sore throat or shortness of breath?

• Have you had any contact with a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19 in the past 14 days?

• Are you awaiting test results for COVID-19?

We ask for your cooperation and understanding at this time. WE are all responsible for making sure we contribute to flattening the curve and NOT contributing to the spread of the virus.

Let us all put one another’s health and safety a priority. We’re all in this together!

We look forward to the day that our whole team will be there for ALL your dental health needs once again.

YOURS SINCERELY,

DR ROUEL VERGARA