With the lifting of Governor McMaster’s Stay-At-Home order on May 4, 2020 dental practices may begin seeing patients at this time. We look forward to our Limited Reopening beginning on Tuesday, May 12, 2020. Please read this in its entirety, as it will provide information on the next steps for our practice.
What are the next steps for our practice?
We are excited to see you, and as we begin to see patients in our office, our number one priority remains the safety of our team, our patients, and our families. Just as South Carolina is reopening with a phased approach, we will also follow a similar method. We have been closely following CDC and OSHA guidelines and will be adjusting our regular appointment flow to ensure proper safety precautions.
Top 10 things to know:
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Social distancing means a limited schedule each day.
We understand that many of you have waited a long time for your appointment. It is our intention to see you or your child as quickly as possible, in a safe manner. Initially, we will not be able to see the same number of patients as we usually do, which allows for proper physical distancing.
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Please do not call us to schedule a missed appointment!
Our scheduling team is working through our backlog to reschedule appointments. We are aware of everyone who had a cancelled appointment and, over the next several weeks, we will be proactively reaching out to you to schedule. In addition, please be patient with us, as we had to cancel, and subsequently reschedule, a large number of appointments during the COVID-19 closure. We will work from the earliest cancelled appointment date to the most recent. For example, if you had an appointment cancelled on March 20th, you will be called before someone who had an appointment on March 30th. If, for some reason you did not schedule your next appointment when you left our office last time, please reach out to us to schedule an appointment.
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Notify us about broken brackets.
When we call to schedule, please let us know if there are any broken brackets, as we may not be able to fix all broken brackets if we are not aware of the time needed when the appointment is scheduled.
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We are rescheduling all appointments previously scheduled through May 29th.
It is important to note that ALL appointments on our books through and including May 29th have been cancelled and will need to be rescheduled. Though we will be open during this time, the May appointments have to be rescheduled as they do not fit with the new scheduling protocols we must follow for social distancing.
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For the day of your appointment:
- All patients need to thoroughly brush their teeth at home before coming to the office. Our toothbrushing stations are closed and have been converted into hand washing stations!
- When you arrive, please stay in your car and TEXT US at 843-856-9323 to let us know you are here. We will respond via text and, once we are ready, an assistant will escort you or your child into the office:
- For adult patients, please plan to attend your appointment alone.
- For child patients, we encourage parents and siblings to wait in the car. If you or your child would like a parent to be present, please limit to one parent and no siblings and we ask that the parent bring a mask to wear. We are sorry for the inconvenience, but we are trying to limit the number of people in the office at any given time.
- Please do not leave our parking lot and stay for the entirety of the appointment.
- Once we are ready, an assistant will greet you at the front door. The assistant will escort you or your child to the clinic. All patients will wash their hands at the former tooth brushing station. (Don’t forget to brush BEFORE leaving home). We will also complete a pre-appointment screening temperature check. If there is a temperature > 100.4º or other COVID-19 symptoms, we will reappoint you and recommend that you see your physician or Urgent Care for further testing.
- Patients will be seated every other chair in the office to maintain social distancing.
- Following the appointment, the assistant will escort child patients back to the car.
- You may call or TEXT the office to schedule the next appointment.
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We are changing how we handle some appointments.
For our aerosol producing procedures, such as removing braces or Invisalign, repairing loose braces, or removing appliances, we will be limiting the use of a high speed dental handpiece when possible, and always use it with high-volume suction. These appointments will be scheduled at the end of the morning and end of the afternoon, and spaced out in our clinic for physical distancing.
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All appointments must be scheduled. No walk-ins.
Because of the backlog of cancelled appointments, we will not be able to accommodate walk-in appointments, even for comfort visits. All appointments must be scheduled through our office. If you have a comfort issue after-hours, please call 843-856-9323.
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Virtual appointments are available for some.
During our office closure, we have implemented several forms of virtual appointments. As we create our upcoming schedule, we may reach out to you to schedule a virtual appointment. This will help limit the number of people in the office. Additionally, it will enable many types of appointments to be seen sooner. Appointments that work well as a virtual consult include: retainer checks, growth and eruption checks, and some new patient exams. Dr. Kelley personally reviews all of the photos submitted and will contact you with a detailed analysis of his findings. If you would prefer this type of appointment, please let us know when we call to schedule your appointment.
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Parents please prepare your kids for the changes beforehand.
We know change can be stressful for young children. Parents, please let your kids know that our office procedures may be different than what they are used to. But also tell them our office will always remain the same friendly, fun, easy-going place. We may be wearing masks and gloves, but underneath them are the same wonderful and caring Kelley Orthodontics Team members!
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One last thing…
As you know, things have changed a lot during the past few weeks, and they have changed often. The current plan outlined here is how we will begin this re-opening process. We will change our approach as needed. Then we will do our best to communicate with you so you are aware of what’s going on. We will also post updates to our social media, so please follow us on Facebook if you have not already done so!
On behalf of our entire team, thank you so much for your patience during this time. We are excited to be seeing you again soon. We appreciate your assistance ensuring the care you and your children receive is as safe as possible. If you have any questions at all, please call or text us at 843-856-9323, or email us.
