Practicing safe dentistry

How Dr. P. D. Joshi's practices safe dentistry amid COVID-19

Friends we welcome you back to Dr. P. D. Joshi’s centre for Microendoontics. We have introduced a few changes post lock down. We request you to kindly spare few moments of your valuable time to look through our New normal. It is also posted as a video for your perusal. We would like to familiarize you with the new protocol. Be assured that New Protocol introduced is to enhance the safety measures and protect all of us against this invisible threat. You would be well informed as you come in for your appointment and feel safer to visit our clinic.

Let us go through the steps. When you call to schedule an appointment the front desk would inquire about the following :

• Your dental complaint, the onset, severity & progress. Next would be your medical history. The medical history is important as there are many medical issues which may interfere with the dental treatment & lastly COVID related queries.
• Next the front desk will mail you two forms for documentation. The first and easy to fill Google form documenting your dental, medical and COVID related history along with medical reports, x-rays, scans if any to enable the doctor to evaluate your dental condition & second, a bilingual consent. Armed with this information, the doctor may ask you for a tele or video consult. Tele/ Video consultation helps the doctor to decide the urgency of appointment, type of treatment you may need, plan your treatment to optimize the number of visits, and prepare the clinic for your treatment at the same to analyze to see if your problem can be sorted on the tele consult itself and avoid visit to the clinic all together.

Let us have a look at the protective environment we have created for your safety.

• First of all, we ensure that there is minimal or no waiting when you arrive for your appointment, The Front Desk is ready to hand over your personal protection gear. The doctor and staff are ready with their own protection gears and the treatment room is completely disinfected and instruments needed for your procedure are fully sterilized and ready.
• As you approach the clinic, we request you to inform the reception by giving a call or sending a msg. You are requested to place your belongings including your phone in the locker near the entrance and lock it and keep the key with you. It is advisable that you don’t wear jewelry, watch or any accessories as you may have to remove and keep them in locker. Please Remove your shoes outside and enter the clinic. Please sanitize your hands with the Hands-Free Sanitizer placed near the Entrance.
• Front desk will greet you with your personal protection kit and guide you to do the same. The operatory is prepared with a multilayer disinfection process. The Room air is purified with an air purifier with HEPA filters which removes smallest of particles to the to tune of 0.3 microns. This includes removal of all micro-organisms and viruses as well.
• The UV radiation kills all microbes and viruses in the room, even from all surfaces which are exposed to it likes walls, floor, table tops, chairs and equipment. Micro fogging is spraying of disinfectant on all the surfaces ensuring thorough disinfection. Besides this all the surfaces are disinfected by wiping them with disinfectant wipes. Special attention is given to high touch surfaces like door handles, chairs, tables, dental equipment. This is done through the whole clinic including the washrooms. The floors are cleaned with Sodium Hypochlorite solution. Even the drainage system is disinfected daily.
• At the end of the day, all the rooms are completely disinfected with “Chlorine Dioxide” fumigation which kills all bacteria and viruses. Once all the disinfection process is completed, The dental chair will be covered with disposable cover and You will notice every equipment, including drills and tubings are covered with disposable films or sleeves, to protect its surface from getting contaminated. All these disposables are changed after every patient.
• The sterilization of instruments is a foolproof process meant to compliment room preparation. First the instruments are rinsed in an Ultrasonic bath with an enzyme disinfectant solution to remove micro dirt. They are then packed in special pouches and sealed for sterilization. These sealed pouches are placed in a B class Autoclave for 100% sterilization. This autoclave is one of the best in the world.
• We have prepared ourselves to be Covid ready clinic. In Pre-Covid times, if you had visited our clinic, you would have noticed, it was always neat, clean and sanitized. At the start of your treatment we ask you to rinse with Hydrogen Peroxide mouthwash and then we clean your face with an antiseptic scrub.
• During the procedure to prevent air borne transmission and contamination, a screen also known as rubber dam is placed on your tooth. It also acts as a safety device preventing anything going down your throat. A very high vacuum suction is used to evacuate water and saliva from your mouth reducing aerosol and droplet contamination of surrounding area.

To prevent unnecessary contact :

• Digital payment mode is encouraged.
• Prescription & instructions are sent on whatsApp / email.
• Maximum treatment is accomplished in one sitting reducing number of visits.

After you leave :

• All the precautions taken before your treatment are repeated for the next patient.
• Used products like disposables covers, needles, files, drills are disposed properly through a biowaste disposing agency.
• At the end of the day, chlorine dioxide “Chloritab” fumigation is done for the entire facility all through the night.

We were always Known :

• As a topmost root canal specialist & total solution provider for even the most complicated procedures in endodontics in the country.
• We have solved complications in root canals & successfully treated already failed root canals for fellow dentists. We get references from all over the city, state, country & even abroad for the same.
• We have introduced many pioneering techniques, equipment & instruments for our specialty, prominent among them is the microscope. We were the first
• We introduced implants 27 years ago in our practice & continue to be one of the top implantologists.

Happy to point out that all what is described here was always followed from the beginning in our clinic. If you have any questions, we would be more than happy to provide additional information. Thank you for reinforcing your trust in us, Stay safe, Stay healthy.