A Letter to Our Families

Dear Families,

We are happy to report that our office has been operating smoothly and safely since reopening.

We’d like to provide a thorough summary of how we are prioritizing safety at this time:

  • Screening: Current federal and state mandates require dental offices to screen all patients via a questionnaire WITHIN 24 hours of their scheduled appointment. Appointments must be confirmed so that a pre-screening can be completed over the phone.
  • Curbside check-in: We ask patients to park in front of the building on Willard Ave in one of our marked parking spaces. Paperless electronic forms can now be accessed on your smartphone and completed within 24 hours of the appointment.
  • Entering the building: A team member will escort your child inside once we are ready to bring them directly to their chair. Everyone who enters our office will have their temperature checked and must wear a mask over their mouth and nose.
  • Social distancing & reduced capacity: We’ve taken care to ensure that patients are physically spaced at least 6 feet apart in the office. We’ve also installed plexiglass barriers around our front desk. To minimize the amount of people in the office at any one time, we have a restricted schedule and we are asking all parents to wait in their cars during appointments. In an emergency, one parent may accompany the child. We understand that many of our parents are accustomed to coming into our office with their child, but we ask you to please be understanding that we are adhering to these policies with everyone’s safety in mind. Our team members are pediatric-trained and are experts in keeping children comfortable and relaxed during their appointments.
  • Once the appointment is complete, one of our providers will either speak with you outside or over the phone to review. Our front desk will be available by phone for scheduling and payments.
  • Team member precautions: All team members complete a thorough health screening and temperature check twice daily. Our staff is wearing enhanced PPE at this time, including scrubs, head coverings, masks, face shields, and fluid-resistant gowns. Please talk with your child and let them know ahead of time that we will look different when they come to the appointment so that they are not scared. You can visit our Facebook page to see an example of our new attire!
  • Engineering controls: We’ve made a significant investment in medical grade air purification systems for each room. These systems go above and beyond what is being recommended by the ADA, CDC, and OSHA. In addition, we are minimizing aerosols in our office by avoiding non-essential use of high-speed rotary handpieces, such as polishing previously used for dental cleanings. Our skilled doctors and hygienists are now performing dental cleanings via thorough hand scaling to achieve the same end-result.
  • High-touch surfaces: In an effort to reduce the amount of contamination of high touch surfaces in the office, we have temporarily removed our toy tower and no cavity club jar. We have also temporarily suspended our toothbrush and floss giveaways.
  • Teledentistry: we now offer virtual teledentistry appointments. Patients can securely communicate with our board-certified pediatric dentists in real-time video and share their concerns, photos, and videos during virtual consultations. In the era of COVID-19, telehealth provides a way for our doctors to stay connected to our patients through times of uncertainty.

We hope that this summary has reassured you of our commitment to safety during the COVID-19 Pandemic. We’ve been working tirelessly to ensure that we continue to provide the highest standard of dental care. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through these challenging times. If you are in need of an appointment, please give us a call us and we will be happy to get you scheduled.

It has truly been a pleasure reconnecting with our patients and getting back to the work we love. Thank you for your continued trust in us to provide the best dental care to your child.

In Good Health,

The NCD Team

Child Giving Thumbs Up After Dentist Visit
Jen and Leighton
Dentist Cleaning Child's Teeth