Dear Valued Patient,

We hope this letter finds you and your family in good health. Our community has been through a lot over the last few months, and all of us are looking forward to resuming our normal habits and routines. While many things have changed, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to your safety. Please read this ENTIRE message, as we have some important changes to share with you.

Infection control has always been a top priority at Niles Family Dental and you may have seen this during your visits to our office. These procedures are made so that when you receive care, it’s both safe and comfortable. We want to tell you about the infection control procedures we follow in our practice to keep our patients and staff safe.

Our office follows infection control recommendations made by the American Dental Associations (ADA), the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). We follow the activities of these agencies so that we are up-to-date on any new rulings or guidance that may be issued.

You may see some changes when it is time for your next appointment. We made these changes to help protect our patients and staff. For example:

*  Our staff will communicate with your beforehand to ask some screening questions. You will be asked those same questions again when you are in the office.

*  We have created a virtual waiting room. We will text you right before your appointment asking to let us know when you arrive. Once we know you are here, we will ask you to wait in your car until we have finished sanitizing the office and the operatory for your usage and are ready to see you. We will then text you that we are ready for you, and will invite you to come in.

*  We have hand sanitizer that we will ask you to use when you enter the office.

*  Once you are in the office, your temperature will be taken with a touch-free thermometer.

*  You may see that our waiting room will no longer offer magazines, children’s books and so forth, since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect.

*  Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients.

*  We also ask you to come into the office alone. Exceptions, of course, will be made for patients who have mobility needs, minors and their accompanying guardians, translators, etc. Everyone who comes in has to have a face covering.

You will also notice that we have made some temporary structural changes in the office, placing plastic partitions to fully isolate each operatory from the next and from the rest of the office.

Because our main priority is safety, we have made a number of upgrades in our safety equipment, such as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for our entire staff to further help us protect you and ourselves. Clinical staff will be wearing NK95 masks in addition to our regular dental masks, face shields, and full-length gowns. In addition to every room being disinfected as usual after each patient, a sanitizing fogger will be used after each patient to purify the air in the operatories. A new air suction will be used during all procedures requiring a drill to help prevent the spread of possible air-born viruses.

A small PPE charge of $15.00 will be added to each visit. This nominal fee will help us partially offset some of the increased costs to continue to serve you in the safest way possible.

We look forward to seeing you again and are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we are taking to keep you and every patient safe in our practice. To make an appointment, please call our office at 847-663-1040 or visit our website at www.nilesfamilydental.com

Thank you for being our patient. We value and trust your loyalty and look forward to welcoming you back.

Sincerely,

Leon Zingerman DDS and staff

@ Niles Family Dental