To the patients of Mansey Family Dentistry & the community of Washington,

First, I’d like to reassure you that Mansey Family Dentistry of Washington, LLC is open for business for your preventative, restorative, and emergent needs as we all continue to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and its constraints on our daily lives.

My staff and I have been taking this virus very seriously since the pandemic developed, and we have always gone above and beyond the standard of care for our disinfection and sterilization practices. Additional measures and protocols were put in place in response to the pandemic for the added safety of our patients and staff, and we intend this to provide reassurance and peace of mind as we welcome your visit.

The greatest safety measure of all is to prevent exposure, so you will be presented with an extensive screening process prior to your visit. Upon scheduling, patients are verbally screened to make sure they are experiencing no signs of illness, fever, exposure or recent travel. We have now implemented an automated confirmation system via email and text which will also ask one day and one hour prior to your visit to call our office if you are experiencing any symptoms. Then, we ask all patients to call our office from the parking lot upon arrival. This is an attempt to be courteous to the previous patient exiting as we are trying to prevent multiple patients in the waiting room. We will return your call when it is clear to enter and we ask everyone to present wearing a mask. We ask that you come to your appointment alone, unless medically or legally necessary (caregiver, spouse, parent) this helps to limit the number of people entering the building. As you enter our reception area, you will have your temperature taken and complete our screening form *see below (exhibit a). This is completed each appointment, even if you come two days in a row. Screening complete, you will be escorted to one of our treatment rooms and allowed to remove your mask. Prior to treatment you will be asked to use a pre-treatment rinse for 30 seconds.

The ADA (American Dental Association) has previously recommended the use of a preprocedural rinse as a protocol to reduce bacterial loads in dental aerosols generated during procedures. It has been proposed that a preprocedural mouthrinse with an oxidative agent, such as 1% hydrogen peroxide, may be effective in reducing viral load as the virus is vulnerable to oxidation. Hydrogen peroxide produces hydroxyl free radicals that are known to attack the lipid “capsule” of enveloped viruses and the genetic material inside. It has been shown to have a virucidal effect in vitro on other coronaviruses. (Colgate1 )

Air quality in the office is also of paramount importance. My staff and I strive to provide the safest environment and the highest quality of care for your dental needs. After thorough consideration and research we found Setra air systems. Setra is a company based in Boxborough, MA and has been established since 1967 providing high quality air purification for hospitals and large manufacturing industries. Setra designed and built the Setra AIIR Watch air purifiers specifically in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, each unit is built to order, proudly made in the USA right in Massachusetts. We have Setra AIIR watch air purifiers in each of the treatment rooms which collectively filter and cycle the air in the entire office space every 20-30 minutes. From the manufacturer: “The Setra AIIR Watch is quiet and compact, and can be easily brought into rooms to filter and cleanse the space of airborne infections. This advanced air purifier uses a combination of HEPA filtration and UV light to trap and neutralize airborne contaminants with a 99.99% effectiveness rating verified via independent third party lab results.” (Setra2 )

We maintain an employee log and record daily screenings and temperature readings for all staff members. We are requiring any employees who show signs of illness to remain home until medically cleared by their physician.

By this point we all know the basics: social distancing, hand washing, and wearing masks. We encourage you to keep up with your medical and dental preventative care visits especially if you have underlying health conditions that may worsen if left untreated or monitored. Even if you are in good health physically, a trip to the doctor or dentist is a valid reason to leave your home which many people are now finding to be an enjoyable experience, who knows…you might even have fun!

(1) https://www.colgateprofessional.com/hygienist-resources/products/pre-procedura l-rinsing

(2) https://www.setra.com/aiir-watch-purifier