COVID-19 UPDATE

Our dental office is committed to taking steps to protect staff and patient safety during this time. We are currently treating emergency patients. All patients are asked to fill out a COVID-19 screening form.

Exposure Control Plan

The clinic has a contagion Exposure Control Plan (ECP) in place. The ECP contains specific procedures related to COVID-19 Infection Controls, including decontamination of the treatment room and fixtures and instruments, patient entry and exit, and clinic staff PPE and disinfection.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Having donated most of our N95 masks and dental PPE to the Nanaimo and Port Alberni hospitals, we are now using fit-tested 3M P100 masks, Crosstex N95 masks, and one-piece fitted suits with helmets and face-shields.

Negative Pressure Rooms

Our clinic has also taken the step of implementing two negative pressure rooms to promote the safety of our patients and staff. A negative pressure room is a facility designed and tested by engineers to prevent cross-contamination from room to room in a health care setting. It includes a ventilation system that generates negative pressure to allow air to flow into the isolation room but not escape the room.

Instead, air from the room is filtered through a high-efficiency particulate arrestee (HEPA) filter system to ensure that it is cleaned before it is ventilated to the outdoors. This technique prevents contaminated air from escaping the room to either the outdoors or other rooms in the clinic. In construction of the negative pressure rooms, the methods employed for collection and analysis of samples are those of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), provincial WCB, and/or other accepted scientific practices.

Picture By Rrobotto – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,