Coronavirus Crisis: We Are with You in This Hour of Need!

The COVID - 19 is a severe infectious disease, first detected in Wuhan, China, and has become a health emergency for many countries, including the United States. As the virus is airborne, the infection can easily spread from one to another through infected droplets, objects, or surfaces. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared it a global health emergency and pandemic. Both CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and ADA (American Dental Association) recommend people to follow good general and oral hygiene and practice social distancing to minimize cross-infection. 

Maintaining good oral hygiene is important to fight coronavirus, as it first attacks the oral epithelial cells. Then, the virus infects cells below your voice box and slides down to the trachea through your airways and lungs. Therefore, keeping your throat, mouth, and teeth clean and free of germs is important. To minimize the coronavirus impact on dental practices, CDC and ADA recommend dentists and dental clinics throughout the US to restrict patient visits to emergency care and reschedule non-emergency procedures and treatments. 

Visit Us If You Have a Dental Emergency

If you have a dental emergency, you can visit our dental clinic. It is not good to ignore your dental emergencies because of the COVID-19 pandemic. If conditions like trauma to the teeth, infection, and throbbing tooth pain are not treated on time, they become severe and can impact your overall dental health. Also, untreated dental problems can lead to life-threatening health conditions such as heart problems and stroke. 

You do not have to worry about the cross-infection and epidemic situation, as we always strictly adhere to the guidelines of CDC and ADA to prevent the spread of the virus and stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, which includes:

• Washing hands for at least 20 seconds before and after each dental appointment with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer or a 1% hydrogen peroxide solution
• Covering coughs and sneezes with a tissue and safely disposing it
• Taking patients’ temperature readings before the treatment and if required screening them for any signs of infection
• Rescheduling the appointments of patients who have a cough, respiratory problem, flu-like symptoms, or recently traveled outside of the country
• Providing personal protective equipment to our staff, dentists, and dental assistants
• Regularly cleaning and disinfecting the frequently touched surfaces and objects
• Asking our staff to stay home when they are sick
• Practicing social distancing and removing unnecessary objects from the waiting room and treatment areas to minimize cross-infection
• Using a rubber dam to minimize exposure to contagious agents
• Autoclaving handpieces and dental equipment
• Increasing the intervals between appointments to avoid the unnecessary crowd at our office
• Evacuating dental procedures and treatments that produce aerosol

You can contact Smiles on Hickman if you have any of these emergency dental conditions:

• Pain caused by a broken tooth or tooth fracture
• Persistent bleeding in your mouth
• Severe toothache or wisdom tooth pain
• Denture adjustments or repairs
• Swelling of your gums
• Trauma to the jaw or teeth
• Infection
• Dental restoration
• Temporary filling replacement
• Suture removal

For your health and safety, we make sure to provide emergency dental care in an environment that is clean and regularly disinfected.