COVID-19
Preparedness

COVID-19 Preparedness Plan

At Lucie Dental, your health and safety are our priority. Lucie Dental’s COVID–19 Preparedness Plan establishes and explains the policies, practices and conditions Lucie Dental incorporates to meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) andFlorida Department of Health guidelines for COVID–19 and federal OccupationalSafety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards related to exposure to COVID–19. Further, we follow the American DentalAssociation’s Advisory Task Force recommendations to ensure the safety of our patients and staff. Our plan has the strong commitment of our management and has been developed and implemented with the full participation and cooperation of our staff.

The following COVID–19 Preparedness Plan includes and describes how Lucie Dental implements the following:
- Infection prevention measures;

- Prompt identification and isolation of sick persons;
- Engineering and administrative controls for social distancing;
- Housekeeping, including cleaning, disinfecting and decontamination;
- Communications and training for managers and workers necessary to implement the plan;
- Provision of management and supervision necessary to ensure effective ongoing implementation of the plan.

Lucie Dental is committed to providing a safe and healthy facility for our patients and staff. To ensure this, we have developed the following Preparedness Plan in response to the COVID–19 pandemic. Our goal is to mitigate the potential for transmission of COVID–19 within our workplaces using the full cooperation of our staff. Through this cooperative effort, we have established and are maintaining safety and promoting health at Lucie Dental.

Screening and policies for staff and patients exhibiting signs and symptoms of COVID–19 Even prior to COVID–19, our policy for all staff-members regarding illness was to self-monitor, and stay home if they had signs of illness. COVID–19 is no different in this respect. In addition to our staff staying home and self-monitoring, we are also asking all patients exhibiting signs and symptoms during the COVID–19 pandemic to reschedule after a minimum quarantine period of 14 days, and are providing patients with the flexibility to easily do so. We remain in constant communication with our staff about what the evolving symptoms of the COVID–19 virus are, and are working with our staff to clearly communicate these symptoms to our patients so they know what symptoms they should be attentive of. Any person within Lucie Dental, whether it be a patient or staff-member, communicating a self-monitored symptom will be sent home immediately. The following policies and procedures are being implemented to assess workers’ health status prior to entering the workplace and for workers to report when they are sick or experiencing symptoms.

Lucie Dental has implemented screening measures for patients and staff. Patient’s temperature will be taken on their arrival and will be asked some COVID-19 symptom and exposure questions. If patients are exhibiting any symptoms of COVID–19, their appointment is postponed for a minimum of 14 days. If they exhibit a fever of 100.4 or more upon their temperature check, their appointment will be cancelled, and they will be sent home. Staff are required to have a temperature check daily when they check into work and are sent home if they exhibit a fever of 100.4 or more. Staff are also required to report promptly any contact with a suspected or confirmed COVID–19 case.

Lucie Dental has also implemented a policy for informing patients or staff if they have been exposed to a person with COVID–19 at our office requiring them to quarantine for the required amount of time. Should a person who was seen in the office be diagnosed with COVID–19 within 14 days of their visit, all patients who were seen on the same day will be notified of potential exposure to take necessary steps of quarantine and testing, and all staff in the office will be referred for COVID–19 testing and quarantined for 14 days since the exposure. Should a staff member become diagnosed with COVID–19, all patients seen by that staff member would be notified of potential exposure. In addition, we continue strict adherence to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, (HIPAA) to protect the privacy, health status and health information of both our patients and our staff.

Infection Prevention

Stringent infection prevention measures are being implemented at Lucie Dental at all times. Lucie Dental uses hospital grade disinfectants to sanitize all work surfaces between every appointment, and patients are provided facilities with soap and water or sanitizers with greater than 70% alcohol. Any staff member that would come within 6 feet of a patient is to wear a mask. All PPE is to be changed regularly, as well as when soiled or after aerosol generating procedures. Hand hygiene is to be performed after taking PPE off and before putting on new PPE.

Engineering controls are to be introduced to minimize aerosol generation and maximize its recapture. High-volume dental suction capacity for the facility has been doubled from standard size. High volume suction is to be utilized wherever possible. Aerosol generation is to be minimized by utilizing alternative dental techniques and instruments (Low speed instead of high speed hand-pieces when possible, hand scaling instead of ultrasonic scaling, and water-streaming syringes instead of air / water syringes).

Housekeeping

Stringent housekeeping practices are being implemented, we are providing staff with extra time to clean and disinfecting all work surfaces and equipment, as well as areas open to the public, including waiting room, front desk and bathroom. Frequent attention towards cleaning and disinfecting of high-touch areas, such as chairs and armrests, counters, phones, keyboards, touch screens, controls, door handles, will also be conducted on an ongoing basis using our EPA hospital grade disinfectant or disinfectants containing greater than 70% alcohol.

Respiratory Etiquette

Visitors are being encouraged to wear masks when entering and exiting Lucie Dental, and asked to cover their mouth and nose with their sleeve or a tissue when coughing or sneezing and to avoid touching their face, in particular their mouth, nose and eyes, with their hands. They should dispose of tissues in the trash and wash or sanitize their hands immediately afterward. Disposable surgical masks are available for patients’ use at the front office. Respiratory etiquette will be demonstrated as required by staff with tissues and trash receptacles readily available for this purpose to all visitors and staff. All staff members are required to wear masks all day long.

Social Distancing

Social distancing is being implemented at Lucie Dental through administrative and schedule controls. As a small private practice, we are better prepared and equipped to maintain social distancing guidelines. The office design of separated individual patient operatories allow for the most isolation during treatment. We are strictly limiting the number of patients. We are working hard to ensure that no patients cross paths. We have staggered appointment times, thus it is essential that you arrive at your appointment time. Our patient forms are available online to be pre-filled prior to the scheduled appointment.

Communications and Training

Additional communication and training will be ongoing as we continually reevaluate the situation, and how effective our response to the situation has been. We will continue to update our response as necessary.This Preparedness Plan has been certified by Lucie Dental management and will be updated as necessary.

Lucie Dental will continue to remain as flexible as we can with our patients to ensure they are receiving the quality general dentistry services they need. We will follow any updates provided by the CDC and other world health organizations to ensure the safety of our staff and patients.

Our staff has been trained to serve your dental needs during this time and we look forward to your next visit! Schedule your next appointment online today! Contact us at with any questions or concerns you may have.