Dear Harvey & Thomas Orthodontics Family,
Greetings parents and patients. We have looked forward to writing this note to let you know that our office will be opening Monday, May 4th, and we are anxious to welcome you.
These last six weeks have been an unprecedented test of endurance, resilience, and sacrifice for every household. We know there is a strong desire to get back to your regularly scheduled orthodontic adjustments. As we reopen, know that we must do so in a limited fashion in accordance with state and federal guidelines. We ask for your patience.
During our downtime at Harvey & Thomas Orthodontics, we’ve never worked so hard. We have participated in:
- educational webinars
- collaborated with colleagues
- launched renovations
- altered our clinic and reception area
- expanded our personal protective equipment inventory
- participated in training by experts in Infection Control, CDC Guidelines, Universal Precautions, and Social Distancing.
We initiated these projects to protect you and your family as well as our team. As you see these changes and experience new protocols and guidelines, we want you to rest assured that we have your family’s safety and well-being foremost in mind. We thank you in advance for your patience with re-scheduling missed appointments, limiting one family member in the reception area, restricting entry to the clinic for non-patients, as well as other guidelines recommended by the American Dental Association and the Center for Disease Control.
We hope you will appreciate that we are now able to offer certain teledentistry services by way of virtual appointments via the “Ortho Screening” widget on our website homepage. If you choose to participate, this will allow us to offer virtual appointments such as a preliminary exam/consultation, review progress with aligners, retainer checks, evaluate growth and tooth eruption on young observation patients, or assess appliance breakage – all from the convenience of your home without driving to our office.
We are so looking forward to seeing you this month and getting back to normal soon. Our staff is working diligently to reschedule everyone on a first-canceled-first-rescheduled basis, which we believe is most fair and efficient and will serve everyone to get back to their regularly scheduled appointments. Please call or text if you have not heard from us.
Your confidence, trust, and patience during these challenging times is greatly appreciated. We celebrate America and the Mobile community going back to work!
Sincerely,
Keith Harvey and Carter Thomas
It’s A New Normal
***What to Do Before you arrive***
- Brush your teeth at home. Our tooth brushing station is currently closed to eliminate transfer of bacteria or viruses.
- If you have a mask, please wear it to your appointment. This is not required, but we recommend it.
- Do not drink anything cold or hot before you arrive. We will be checking your temperature with a forehead scanner to determine if you have a fever of 100.4 or greater. If you should feel poorly or have a temperature, we will reschedule your appointment.
***Arrival Protocol***
- Text our office at 251-479-9597 and let us know that you have arrived. Stay in your car. Let us know where you are parked and the color and make of your car.
- One of our team members will come to the car to ask you to sign a health screening form.
- We will escort you or your child to the Entry Triage Station where we will record patient temperature and provide hand sanitizer.
- When the patient is brought to the treatment area, the parent or family member accompanying the patient will be asked to stay in the car or sit in the reception area and observe social distancing guidelines.
** Note: We ask that parent remain in the car to minimize the number of people in the office. This will assist us in meeting our social distancing and infection control requirements. Should a parent accompany child into the office, temperature and health questions will be asked as with the patient. We’ve always loved inviting parents into the clinic, however at this time, we are asking parents to wait in the reception area or in your car.
Dismissal from Appointment
- The scheduled procedure will be performed
- Our Team member will escort patient to the scheduling team where they will make the next appointment. Upon receipt, we will ask parent to text or call the office if the time chosen is not convenient. Please share your appointment time preference with your child so we can serve you with the correct appointment.
- Our Team member will escort patient to car and update parent.
