Health Safety Protocols

To Our Valued Patients at Surprise Smiles,

Welcome! We are open, looking forward to seeing returning patients, accepting new patients, and operating under normal business hours! The Arizona Department of Health Services (AZDS) is still not recommending any type of closures or modification in hours. We will continue to monitor information coming from both the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and AZDHS and keep you apprised of any changes or updates. We will stay on top of this information and bring it to you as soon as possible through our website, email, and social media.

As we continue to navigate through the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, our dentists and dental team want to assure you that we are continuing to do our best to make sure it a priority that we are following the latest health and safety guidelines from the CDC, specifically as they relate to the dental industry. We value keeping our patients and staff members safe and comfortable.

As part of our daily standard health and safety protocols, our office follows ‘Universal Precautions’ in order to protect our patients and our staff. These are precautions we have always taken, and are not new. By taking ‘universal precautions’ means we always assume that anyone could potentially be carrying a contagious and dangerous disease. We therefore follow strict guidelines to prevent the transmission of any potential disease, be it COVID-19 (Coronavirus), hepatitis, tuberculosis, HIV, or any other disease. This has been a standard of care we follow, per the CDC, in regard to blood borne pathogens.

These measures include:
• strict hand washing protocols

• use of (single use) disposable protective equipment and barriers

• thorough disinfection of exposed or potentially exposed surfaces after every patient visit

• disinfection and high-heat steam sterilization of instruments and routine monitoring of sterilization verification

• continued education on infection control

Specific to COVID-19 (Coronavirus) we have added in additional precautionary and cleaning measures including:
• disinfecting common surface areas every 30 minutes

• providing hand sanitizer in common areas

• screening everyone who enters our offices based on CDC recommendations

• offering preprocedural mouth rinse

As state and national health and safety regulations change and evolve during these times, Surprise Smiles is dedicated to monitoring and evaluating our dental practice and office space for any potential risks as we serve our patients and community. We strive to maintain an approach to our dentistry services that is both safe and beneficial to everyone we serve.

We strive to provide a safe, healthy, comfortable, and relaxed environment for everyone that comes into our dental office. We follow the American Dental Association’s Update to Office Procedures During COVID-19 in regard to safe office procedures, workplace hazards, and making decisions for best office practices. We stay informed on recent information given to dentists in this regard, as well as keeping up to date with any changes recommended by the CDC.

Please let us know if you have any questions in regard to our health and safety protocols here at Surprise Smiles. We recognize that it can be challenging during these unprecedented times of COVID-19. We all want to get back to our normal lives, and we will be able to do so, in a safe, wise, and healthy manner. We will be happy to answer any questions that you may have in regard to our dental practice health and safety protocols, cleaning, and disinfecting procedures we follow.

Thank you for continuing to be a valued patient here at Bradshaw Family Dental. We look forward to continuing to serve you and your dental needs through the various services we provide for you, from preventive dentistry, restorative dentistry, cosmetic dentistry, pediatric dentistry, sedation dentistry, dental implants and more!

Three Newer Technologies that Can Find Cavities Earlier than Ever

Posted on 5/25/2016 by Dr. Andrew Zeiger

A diagnodent machine used to detect cavities.

The field of dentistry is constantly evolving, making it easier than ever to find cavities quickly.

By using some of these new systems, cavities can be detected and treated early on in order to minimize the amount of treatment needed.

Quantitative Light-Induced Fluorescence

Also known as QLF, this technology is one of the newest options, and it uses a light source, fluorescent dye, and camera. The camera will take an image of each tooth, and specialized software will analyze the images to provide information about the loss of minerals.

This technology can detect early decay in both the permanent and the baby teeth, as well as early decay that is located near the crowns, fillings, and orthodontic hardware.

DIAGNOdent

DIAGNOdent is a diagnostic imaging tool that uses lasers to collect information by shining a handheld tool onto each tooth. This laser beam is then absorbed by each tooth and will leave it as fluorescent light. While a solid structure will give off minimal fluorescent light, bacteria and damaged portions will give off more.

Studies have shown that use of this technology can diagnose decay early in the under layers of the tooth before cavities can develop in the enamel.

DIFOTI

DIFOTI, or Digital Imaging Fiber-Optic Trans-Illumination, uses computer technology to collect images of the teeth while a light is shined from behind them. Softened tooth areas will appear darker than the healthy areas, so dentists use the images to detect problems. This technology is similar to an X-ray image, but it doesn't use radiation.

However, collecting an image with DIFOTI will require more time than an X-ray because of the accuracy needed when placing the camera on each tooth.

Do you think that you might have a cavity forming? Contact our office about options that might be available to check out your teeth.

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Bradshaw Family Dental
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Prescott Valley
7136 East Pav Way
Prescott Valley, AZ 86314
(928) 277-0076

Prescott
172 E Merritt St.
Suite F
Prescott, Arizona 86301
(928) 443-1200

Dental Blog - Prescott Valley, AZ • Bradshaw Family Dental
Dr. Frausto & Associates are providing this blog to enlighten their patients and the community. At Bradshaw Family Dental our hope is this blog will cover any issues that you and your family may need.
Bradshaw Family Dental, 7136 East Pav Way, Prescott Valley, AZ 86314 ~ (928) 277-0076 ~ bradshawfamilydental.com ~ 10/13/2024 ~ Related Phrases: dentist Prescott Valley ~