COVID Update - July 19, 2023
As per the the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario (RCDSO), COVID-19 guidance is no longer in effect and masks are no longer mandatory. However we continue to maintain the highest standards of disinfection and continue to encourage safe practices.
We look forward to continuing to provide the safest possible environment for your health needs.
Thank you again for all your patience and understanding.
Dr. Austin Chen
COVID Mask Update - March 21, 2022
As part of the Government of Ontario’s COVID-19 reopening plan, mask mandates are being relaxed in most public settings in the province as of March 21st, 2022. This DOES NOT INCLUDE HEALTH CARE SETTINGS. Dentistry is a health care profession and infection prevention and control requirements, including PPE requirements, are essential to the delivery of safe and effective oral health care. Therefore, we will continue to follow the guidelines set out by the Ministry of Health, wearing masks and screening of our patients will continue. Our staff will continue to screen our patients and their family members. The screening questions will remain the same according to the guidance from the Ministry of Health.
We want to thank you for your continued patience and cooperation to meet these ongoing guidelines. As guidance changes from the Ministry of Health, we will continue to update our patients.
We look forward to continuing to provide the safest possible environment for your health needs.
Thank you again for all your patience and understanding.
Dr. Austin Chen
COVID Update - December 12, 2020
WE ARE STILL OPEN!
The Provincial announcement for York Region entering the Grey zone does not alter the scope of care that dentists/orthodontist are permitted to provide, which continues to include in-person care for non-essential and elective services. We continue all our safety protocols to maintain social distancing and thoroughly disinfect surfaces and instruments, to ensure the safety of our patients and staff. We continue to exceed the guidelines have been published by the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario (RCDSO), College of Dental Hygienists of Ontario (CDHO) and the Ontario Ministry of Health.
Thank you again for being a part of our practice. We value your patience as we work through these difficult times, and look forward to seeing all our patients, neighbours and friends.
Sincerely,
Dr. Austin Chen
COVID Update - May 31, 2020
WELCOME BACK TO VAUGHAN ORTHODONTICS!!
We are excited and happy to be able to welcome you back to our office. After several weeks of managing patients via text, email and phone, we can finally step foot back into the office and see the faces we have missed dearly. We have new protocols in place to maintain social distancing and most importantly, to ensure the safety of our patients and staff.
Due to the extended COVID-19 closure, we will be seeing patients in strategic waves following a phased re-opening protocol based on type of appointment and following the recommendations of our college. Please be patient, our scheduling coordinators are working hard to address the list of patients in need of an appointment and will be in touch with you to book your required appointment. Your treatment is not only a priority to you, but to us as well, and we will get you into the office as efficiently as we can.
THE SHORT VERSION
For a summary of our new protocols to keep everyone safe please watch our video here and please expand to full screen view.
Please note the following changes:
When you arrive to the plaza, please call us at 905-303-7788. At that time, we will go over a screening questionnaire over the phone and advise you when we are ready to see you.
We ask that all patients wear a mask, and ONLY the patient comes in while parents and siblings remain outside the office.
Upon arrival to the office the patient’s temperature will be taken, hand sanitizer, and antiseptic rinse will be used.
Once the appointment is completed, we will ask patients to use hand sanitizer before they leave and we will call you to book your next appointment.
Prior to the appointment, please remember to:
Brush and floss as our tooth brushing station is now closed. If we are unable to complete the necessary adjustment due to poor oral hygiene, the appointment will have to be rescheduled.
All patients must wear a mask to their appointment
Arrive 10-15 minutes early to allow for screening and other pre-appointment procedures
Call from the plaza when you arrive at 905-303-7788
THE LONG VERSION
IMPORTANT INFORMATION BEFORE YOUR APPOINTMENT
We have made some physical changes to our office and our protocols as per the Chief Medical Officer of Health, Public Health Ontario and our governing body the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario. When your appointment is being booked, the receptionists will ask you a COVID pre-screen questionnaire, help run you through the new procedure and update your personal information.
To help make the transition as smooth as possible, and keep your scheduled appointment on time, we ask that you arrive 10-15 minutes early for your appointment. When you arrive at the plaza, please do not come to the office. We ask that you remain in your car or stay outside on the patio and call us at 905-303-7788. The scheduling coordinators will once again ask you a COVID screening questionnaire and advise you that we will contact you when we are ready for you to come into the office.
When the clinic is ready for your appointment, you will be contacted by the scheduling coordinators inviting you to come in. Once at the office entrance, you will be checked in, be asked to use hand sanitizer and your temperature will be taken and documented. Patients will also be provided with an antiseptic mouth rinse to use in the clinic prior to their appointment.
We ask that all patients wear a mask if they have one available, and ONLY the patient comes into the office for their appointment. If the patient requires mobility assistance, are too young to be alone and/or have issues speaking and understanding English, a single parent/guardian/family member can accompany them. Anyone entering the office will also be asked to wear a mask the entire time they are present in the office. No more than one person can accompany the patient to the appointment. We apologize for the inconvenience but we need to maintain physical distancing orders and limit the number of individuals entering and exiting the office. Patients will be wearing their mask the entire time they are in the office, except for when they are being treated. As always, please be reminded not to bring any food or drinks into the office. Furthermore, any bags or purses should be small enough that they can be placed on your lap during treatment (not the floor).
After the appointment is completed, patients will be asked to use hand sanitizer prior to leaving the office. The scheduling coordinators will call each and every patient to update the families on the treatment completed and to schedule their next appointment time.
If you experience any COVID symptoms within 14 days following your appointment, please contact us immediately.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT AT VAUGHAN ORTHODONTICS
In addition to our existing rigorous protocols of infection control and prevention, the new measures will further mitigate the risk of transmission of the virus amongst our patients, their families, the community and ourselves. A set of practice guidelines have been published by the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario (RCDSO), College of Dental Hygienists of Ontario (CDHO) and the Ontario Ministry of Health. We will not only be adhering to their guidelines, but exceeding their recommendations.
Physical Distancing
In order to maintain proper physical distancing, we have established one way flow through our office. A mask or face covering is required while in the office, as there may be times when distancing of two metres apart may not be feasible. Chairs have been spaced out in the waiting area for those individuals who must accompany the patient to their appointment. ONLY patients will be allowed in the clinic area.
Physical Space
Plexiglass shields have been installed at our reception desk as a physical barrier during any necessary administrative interactions. We ask that any conversations with receptionists be done over the phone or email when possible. In the clinic, we have ensured that all of our dental chairs meet physical distancing requirements. Throughout the office, we have invested in industry-leading air purification system to increase our air circulation and exchange rates. The system also filters and purifies the air of fine particles as small as 0.001 microns, well beyond the size of typical bacteria and virus particles.
Hand Hygiene
Hand hygiene will be stressed amongst patients entering and exiting the office, and of course the staff as always. To minimize touching of shared surfaces, we have discontinued the operation of our self-check-in screen, brushing station and patient washroom. The video game system, water cooler, coffee station, toy boxes, all magazines have also been removed from the reception area.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
All required personal protective equipment has been stocked and is available for the clinical staff. Depending on the type of appointment, you may now see our clinical staff members wearing gowns, face shields and N95 masks. The staff will be wearing the appropriate PPE for the procedure being completed.
Screening, Exposure and Illness
The COVID pre-screen questionnaire will be a series of simple questions relating to COVID-19 symptoms, contact history and travel history to ensure that risk of exposure is minimal for our patients and staff. If there is a heightened risk level, your appointment will be deferred to a later date. We understand this is inconvenient, but the safety of our staff and patients is our top priority. Our staff members undergo the same pre-screening upon arrival to work in the morning. Any positive symptoms will require staff to return home and seek medical advice and COVID-19 testing as required prior to returning to work.
We look forward to seeing you soon and proceeding forward toward our objective of creating beautiful smiles. We are here for any questions or concerns you may have so please feel free to reach out. Together, we will get through these uncertain times. Please note, due to predicted extremely high call volumes, your call may not be answered immediately. Feel free to leave a voicemail or send us an email at info@vaughanortho.com. Our scheduling coordinators will do their absolute best to get back to you as soon as possible, please be patient.
Sincerely,
Dr. Austin Chen and The Vaughan Ortho Team
COVID Update - May 10, 2020
Dear patients and their families,
We hope this message finds you and your family safe and healthy. Our global and local communities have been through a life-changing period, and we are all hoping to return to some sense of normalcy soon. While many things have changed, one thing has remained the same: our commitment to your health and safety.
Infection control has always been a top priority for our practice, as you have experienced during all your previous visits to our office. This commitment to ensuring a safe, yet comfortable environment has been paramount to top quality orthodontic care. In light of current events, we want to tell you about the infection control procedures we will continue to follow in our practice to keep patients and staff safe.
Our office follows infection control protocols set by the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario. We follow the activities of these agencies so that we are current to any new rulings or guidance that may be issued. We do this to make sure that our infection control procedures adhere to the regulations outlined, as dynamics change quickly.
You will see some changes when it is time for your next appointment. We made these changes to help protect our patients and staff. For example:
Our office will communicate with you before your next appointment to explain changes in our patient sign in process and clinical procedures. We will also be reviewing with you a screening questionnaire.
We have hand sanitizer that we will ask you to use when you enter the office. You will also find some in the reception area and other places in the office for you to use as needed.
You will see that our waiting room has separated seating and will no longer offer magazines, children’s books, videogames, coffee service, public restrooms or the toothbrushing station to minimize potential touch points.
We have also implemented measures to ensure the safety of our staff. These include plexiglass barriers and physical separation for our administrative team, additional personal protective equipment for our clinical team and further transition to a paperless digital platform
Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.
We will be restricting the number of people coming to an appointment with the patient to allow for proper physical distancing
We look forward to seeing you again and are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we take to keep you, and every patient, safe in our practice.
You may have heard on the news that there are some provinces that are allowing the opening of dental and orthodontic practices soon, however there remain no definitive timelines yet in Ontario. We will notify you as soon as hear any updates.
Thank you for being a part of our practice. We value your patience as we work through all these changes, and look forward to welcoming back our patients, neighbors and friends.
Sincerely,
Dr. Austin Chen
Email: drchen@vaughanortho.com
COVID Update - March 30, 2020
Dearest Vaughan Orthodontic Patients and Families,
It is in your best interest that we postpone orthodontic appointments, due to Pandemic spread of COVID-19 virus; our regulatory college (Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario) has strongly recommended all non-essential and elective dental procedures, of which orthodontics is a part of, be postponed for at least until the first week of May for the protection of the public. They will be reviewing this decision again at that time and our office will keep you informed of any developments. If you recently received an automated reminder for an upcoming appointment please disregard it. We will contact you with specific details of your rescheduled appointment once our regulatory college clears offices to reopen.
The dental profession is highly regulated when it comes to cross infection and we at Vaughan Orthodontics are in accordance with all regulations in that respect. However, orthodontists and dental assistants are very likely to be vulnerable to this particular virus, as we are exposed to a high quantity of aerosol and saliva particles. Due to its high infectiousness and the absolute need to slow down the spread, it is the responsible thing to do to limit the possible exposure to everyone.
Moreover, delaying orthodontic visits for a few weeks or so will highly unlikely cause any significant harm, as long as you are brushing your teeth regularly, keeping ideal oral hygiene standards and following the instructions which are summarized below. These instructions are for those under treatment using fixed braces, removable braces, Invisalign, retainers, or in interceptive treatment with an expander:
If you have an expander or other device that requires you to activate it- STOP turning the expander or appliance until we resume normally scheduled visits
If you are in fixed braces or Invisalign and are using elastics, MOVE TO WEARING ELASTICS ONLY AT NIGHTTIME until we resume normally scheduled visits.
Excellent oral hygiene is essential.
Avoid consuming sweetened beverages or foods.
Minimize consuming hard foods.
Follow the instruction that we already provided in your last visit, such as the pattern of wear of elastics (though moving to night time only), brushing your teeth, using aligners, etc.
For those who finished their treatment and are wearing retainers, follow the instructions that we already provided in your last visit regarding the wear times of your retainers.
If your bonded retainer breaks or becomes loose and you are less than 6 months out of treatment WEAR YOUR REMOVABLE RETAINER FULL TIME. If you are more than 6 months out of braces, make sure you are wearing your retainer EVERY NIGHT until we resume normally scheduled visits and we can repair the break.
Some orthodontic emergencies can be dealt with by yourself. Please click here for emergency guidance from the Canadian Association of Orthodontists.
If you have an emergency that requires our intervention, then it will be ideal to send our office an email at drchen@vaughanortho.com along with a picture. Click here to watch this very short 60 second video that I made to teach you how to get the best photos or videos of your teeth.
For some emergencies, we might arrange a video call to identify the problem(s) and advise you accordingly.
In the meantime, our advice is to avoid or minimize emergency visits until the virus spread slows down.
If you have any questions or if you have an emergency, please do let me know.
Best wishes,
Your friends at Vaughan Orthodontics