Covid-19 Safety

Since the outbreak of AIDS and Ebola, dental offices have been held to a very high standard when it comes to infection control. In NY State dentists must take a refresher course on the topic every three years to stay current in the protocols of keeping the office safe from transmission of blood borne pathogens.

With the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus the CDC and the NYS Department of Health have issued new guidelines to include disrupting the transmission of airborne diseases such as the coronavirus. It is well established that the Covid-19 virus is transmitted by respiratory droplets passing from an infected person to a non-infected person. That gave rise to the mandatory wearing of face masks and social distancing using 6' as the minimum space between people. It was later discovered that the disease can also be transmitted by aerosols. Dental offices can produce these aerosol contaminants whenever a rotary instrument is used, like the dental drill or cleaning brushes that rotate of vibrate ultrasonically.

For this reason, our office installed a hospital grade, powerful air filtration system in the treatment room. The Envirco Hospi-Guard device uses a HEPA filter and UV light to cleanse the air throughout the day. In addition, we have vented this device to the outside which creates what is called a "negative pressure" room, similar to that used in hospital isolation rooms and operating theaters.