Yes – we are open for urgent dental treatment starting on June 8. We have not reopened for routine hygiene and ortho appointments. We plan to open hygiene appointments in July when the State of Emergency is lifted in Ontario.
Yes. The relative risk of going to a dental office is low. Dental offices have always had high infection control protocol pre-Covid and now there is even higher standards to follow. The RCDSO is the regulating body for all dentists in Ontario. Their primary goal is to keep the public safe. They have put in place new evidence-based standards for dental offices to adhere to during the Pandemic. In our office we have gone beyond these standards to keep all our patients and staff members safe. We would not put ourselves and our families at risk returning to work if we didn’t think it was safe to be in the office.
Every dental office must screen all their patients with a questionnaire upon scheduling their appointment and upon arriving to the office. Anyone that screens positive on this questionnaire is advised to reschedule their appointment. (Please see questionnaire). Masks must be worn and social distancing must be observed at all times in the office unless interferes with dental treatment. Special PPE must be worn for specific procedures. Hand sanitizer must be used entering and exiting the office. Cleaning of the operatories must wait a minimum of 15 minutes after any aerosol procedure to give necessary time for particles to fall to the ground to be disinfected. A peroxide mouthrinse will be used at the beginning of any appointment. Patients are instructed to contact the office if they have Covid symptoms within 14 days of a dental appointment.
Aerosols are tiny particles that get suspended in the air. They are created when saliva being propelled by air driven equipment in the dental office. The instruments that create these aerosols are dental handpieces (drill), ultrasonic scalers (cavitron) and 3-way syringes (dental water gun). Using a high volume suction has proven to reduce dental aerosols by 95%.
No – not in our office. No aerosols will be produced with teeth cleanings since only hand instruments will be used. No ultrasonics or 3-way syringes will be used during a dental cleaning appointment. All our operatories have permanent full height walls and doors separating all dental procedures from each other. Any aerosol dental procedures will be sealed off from the rest of the office.
All aerosol procedures are done in a sealed operatories without exposure to the rest of the office. Our office was constructed with permanent full height walls and doors. Once an aerosol procedure is started, we will not open the doors until the appointment is complete. All restorative procedures will be done with the rubber dam and high volume suction. It is proven that dental aerosols are reduced by 95% with high volume suction alone. No aerosols will be created for any dental cleaning appointments. UV High- CFM Air purifiers are used in every operatory to clean the air for a specified amount of time before we start the thorough disinfection process.
Yes. We have permanent floor to ceiling walls and doors on all our operatories. All appointments will be scheduled in a staggered way with all patients isolated in their own room. UV Air purifiers are used with Covid-killing disinfectant on all surfaces after every patient.
All admin staff will always be wearing at a mask or face covering in the office. When they are no behind plexiglass barriers they will continue to maintain social distancing. Depending on what dental procedure is scheduled – the clinical staff member might be wearing a fit-tested n95 mask, a 3M p100 repirator, an O2 Curve respirator, a level 3 surgical mask, a faceshield, eye protection, hair bonnet, isolation gown and gloves on top of our regular scrubs. Please bring a sweater or jacket to your appointment since the office temperature will be relatively cool in attempt to keep us from overheating. All team members have had training on proper donning and doffing of all new PPE requirements.
No. After careful consideration, we have decided NOT to implement a PPE fee. New Covid standards for infection control has increased PPE costs to $30-50 per dental appointment. We have decided to try to reduce expenses in other ways to make up the shortfall. Example will be scheduling more procedures at once - do fillings on 2 sides of the mouth at once when before we would schedule 2 appointments. If we find that we can’t sustain this practice and have to charge a PPE fee like other dental offices – you will be notified before scheduling your dental appointment.
We have added plexiglass barriers to our reception and admin spaces. Parking lot waiting room with a new text messaging service to let us know when patients have arrived. Contactless checkout – all appointments will be scheduled in the operatory. All payments will be done online or by phone with invoices and insurances documents sent by email. Staggered limited appointments per day to reduce the number of people in the office at a time.
Yes and No. Maintaining routine dental cleanings ARE important to overall oral health. But if you are in overall good health and have good home hygiene care - delaying a cleaning by a few months or even up to a year does not usually cause irreparable damage to teeth/gums. The consequence of delaying a hygiene appointment may result in more tartar buildup, bleeding and sensitivity. You may need more units of scaling or a 2nd appointment to complete the cleaning. If you have a history of gum disease, heart disease or diabetes, its better to schedule as soon as you can and try to resume a healthy hygiene maintenance schedule.
No. Orthodontic wires are made of special metals that express movement in teeth slowly. Keeping a wire on longer than scheduled is not detrimental to the teeth. The wires are pre-bent and won’t go past their prescribed movement. Don’t worry if your teeth seem to be getting more “gappy” or the bite seems “off”. Its normal in orthodontic treatment to move teeth in a way to create space and then later align them. If you have any specific questions about your orthodontic case -please don’t hesitate to contact us!
We are open! Just operating in a new way during the Pandemic. We are using Teledentistry to triage all dental problems prior to any in-office appointments being scheduled. You can call us 905-471-2967 ext 2 and either speak to reception or leave a message. Or you can email Dr. Ho-Fatt directly at drhofatt@gmail.com and explain your problem. We will respond and most likely set up a telephone or zoom call to get more info before bringing you into the office for an appointment.
We have limited spots for routine dentistry, but we will try to accommodate urgent requests. Just call or email us. Info@markhamheritagehealthclinic.com
Call or message us right away. Any patient that screens positive on the questionnaire can not come into the office. With limited spots in our schedule, we would appreciate as much notice as possible so we can offer it to someone else.
No. To reduce the number people in the office at the same time – we can not see multiple family members at once. Only 1 parent can accompany a child to their appointment. No siblings will be allowed in the room at the same time. Due to the nature of this pandemic we understand that there might be last minute cancellations due to illness or quarantine. For that reason, we can only schedule a maximum of 2 family members on the same day.
Yes! Please recommend us to your friends. We will be doing Teledentistry new patient appointments by phone and Zoom. These appointments will let us get to know you and your expectations of the office. This will allow to us schedule the appropriate amount of time for your in-office appointment. Expect about 20 minutes call and a 90 minutes office appointment which will include a dental cleaning.
Orthodontic and Sleep apnea consults are complimentary.