Napa Dentist Blog

We’re Open! What We Are Doing to Keep You and Our Team Safe

Dr. Lamberton and his team in their Napa dental office posing with PPE ready to serve patients again

We are excited to have the opportunity to welcome you back! Our office has always utilized personal protective equipment (PPE) that has exceeded all CDC guidelines, however, considering the COVID-19 Pandemic, we have instituted additional guidelines and protocols to ensure your safety.

You will see many changes, as we have new ways of scheduling your appointments and managing our new protocols to keep you and us safe. First, you will be contacted 48-72 hours prior to your appointment and asked a set of health-related questions. We will have to reschedule your appointment if we are unable to complete this step.

Below is list of some of the enhanced precautions we have taken to protect you in addition to extensive team training on infection control and patient management procedures.

Personalized arrival procedures to guide you from your car directly to treatment rooms to eliminate contacting surfaces.

We require a mask to be worn by ALL patients entering our office or we will provide one for you.

Record temperature of every patient upon entering the office.

Maintain distancing in the reception area for essential caregivers and parents of minors if they cannot wait in a vehicle or outside the office.

Removed magazines and items that can harbor or transfer germs of any kind. Hand sanitizers will be positioned throughout the office.

Installed sneeze guards or droplet barriers at all reception areas.

Require hand washing and hand sanitizing before all appointments by our team and by our patients.

Introduce an oral pre rinse by all patients to reduce exposure to viruses.

Require all team members to undergo periodic testing for COVID-19 and antibodies for the earliest detection of exposure should it exist.

Record the temperature of every team member each day at beginning of the day.

Payment systems at the front to minimize contact after the appointments.

Enhanced operatory disinfection procedures of all surfaces between patients.

Enhanced HVAC so our air has never been cleaner. HEPA-grade filters, copper filters, and UV light for cleaning the air.

Negative Pressure Rooms found in high-tech laboratories and medical centers, these rooms provide the highest levels of self-containment and climate control.

Enhanced operatory disinfection procedures before and after all appointments with mist or fogging devices to access hard to reach places that can be easily missed.

New personal equipment like visors, gowns and masks for our doctors and team to provide barriers against the smallest of germs.

Enhanced nightly disinfection procedures of equipment and office fixtures like computers, keyboards, telephones, chairs, doorknobs and buttons that may be touched unconsciously.

Longer appointment times for you to prepare and complete all appointment tasks and duties in the safest and most comprehensive manner.

By Cecil Lamberton

COVID-19: Saline Irrigation to Help Keep You Safe

Dr. Bradley Bale is interviewed by Tammy Vann about a technique to prevent coronavirus.

In an effort to help control the spread of the coronavirus, and keep you, us, and the community safe, our office has been limiting appointments to extreme dental or life threatening dental emergency procedures.

This decision is in accordance with the recommendation released by the American Dental Association (ADA) and mandated by the State of California. However, we are now cleared to begin to reopen our office to serve you.

As we prepare to reopen, our office is looking into additional measures like peroxide and/or saltwater nose & throat rinses for us and you the patient before and after appointments. Dr. Lamberton recommends the following video to help keep yourself, your family, and your community safe from COVID-19.

[Read more…]

By Cecil Lamberton

COVID-19: A Letter from Dr. Lamberton

Updated April 9, 2020

Dear Patients & Friends,

I know that you all must be feeling the same way I am by now. When can I see my family and friends in person again? When can I go over and hug & kiss my kids and grand kids? I am optimistic that we as a country will beat this virus. Many intelligent people are working on it from every angle, as you know.

In an effort to help control the spread of the coronavirus, and keep you, us, and the community safe, our office is limiting appointments to extreme dental or life threatening dental emergency procedures only until further notice.

This decision is in accordance with the recommendation released by the American Dental Association (ADA) and mandated by the State of California. The timeline is always changing but for right now that means that the State of California will keep us closed until May 3. I hope that changes, but we will have to see next week.

If you have an upcoming hygiene or non-urgent appointment:

Nicole has tried to call everyone about upcoming appointments and has started a list to call you as soon as we know it is safe to start working again.

Our phone lines will remain open for your questions and concerns.

If you are experiencing pain or have any dental emergency, please call our office at 707-257-7771 or Dr. Cecil Lamberton at 707-337-4947 about any concerns or questions you have. We will decide on a case by case how we should deal with your concerns or emergency. Do not hesitate to call.

At our office we have always followed standard universal precautions issued by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and ADA to help protect every one of our patients and team members. For your peace of mind, these are the precautions we take EVERY time you sit in one of our patient chairs:

We wear single-use gloves and masks while treating patients.
We wear protective clothing and launder all of our work clothing on site.
We place instruments after each use into an autoclave (a high-pressure steam oven) to kill every known infectious organism, including coronavirus.
We wipe down each dental operatory after each patient visit with a medical-grade surface disinfectant that kills all known infectious diseases, including coronavirus.
We wash our hands thoroughly between patients.

In addition to the above standard measures, we will be exercising an even higher standard of infection-control in our waiting areas, including removing all magazines, toys, and other items that are difficult to disinfect. And while we love and value each of our patients, handshakes and hugs may be replaced with an “elbow bump” for the time being.

We are looking into additional measures like peroxide and/or saltwater nose & throat rinses for us and you the patient before and after appointments. (Please watch the video from The BaleDoneen Method on how to kill the virus.) We are also looking into outfitting our air systems to follow the CDC guidelines for medical/hospital grade standards which may include negative & positive air pressure filtration/sterilization which would filter, sterilize, and/or draw the virus out of the building including the reception and other non-treatment areas.

While we are doing everything in our power to protect you, we also ask for your cooperation in making our office environment a safe one when you visit us. We ask that you wear a mask until you are in the dental chair. If you have a cough, fever, or chills, please call our office to discuss whether or not you should reschedule. We will be checking temperatures on all patients as they enter and anyone with a reading over 99.9 degrees may be asked to reschedule at least three weeks later as a precaution. Also, to practice social distancing and minimize the number of people in our waiting room, please show up no earlier than 10 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment and come alone if possible.

We care about each of you and hope that you and your family will remain in good health during this difficult time.

Sincerely,

Dr. Cecil Lamberton & Team