Our Pediatric Dental Specialists

Dr. Christine Rimi Kobayashi

Dr. Tami Fujino

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covid-19 response

 

 

 

8/19/2021

 

It’s back to school time!

 

Hope you had a wonderful summer.  As our children return to in-person learning, we would like to thank you for your cooperation with our policies during this pandemic.  The state of California now mandates all healthcare providers to be fully vaccinated or tested weekly.  At PDSR, we have implemented this policy to do our best to protect our team and patients.   As part of our continued efforts, we kindly ask you to do the following:

• Complete the online forms as soon as you receive them, so that we can screen them prior to your arrival

• Inform us if your child has any COVID-related symptoms, so we can help re-appoint you

• Verbal screening and temperature checks at arrival

• Wear masks (everyone 2 years old and up)

• Refrain from bringing non-appointed siblings or other family members to your appointment- to limit the number of people in our waiting room

• Follow current CDC guideline in regards to AIR travel: please see below

 

    

 

Thank you so much for your continued help!

Please contact us if you have any questions.

Wishing you all a great school year!

 

 

6/1/2021

 

Happy Summer!

 

We hope your summer break is off to a great start!  Starting June 15th, the state of California will be eliminating all COVID 19 restrictions.  It has been a long 16 months since the start of the pandemic.  Though cases are declining and vaccination rates are increasing, our office will continue our current health and safety policies (please see below) as we work with young children in aerosol heavy environment.

 

• Online COVID screening to be completed prior to your arrival

• Temperature checks

• Mask requirements and social distancing

• Limitation on accompanying adults and non-appointed siblings

• 10-day wait period post air travel of a non-vaccinated patient

 

We thank you for your patience, understanding and cooperation.  Please contact us if you have any questions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3/1/2021

 

Happy Spring!

 

We hope this email finds you all healthy and well.  It is hard to imagine that it has been over a year since the state of California shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  We would like to take this time to thank all of you for your cooperation and compliance with our COVID-19 protocols.

 

Even though restrictions are easing up, we are not out of the woods yet.  We would like to remind you that we will still be implementing our online screening questionnaires, temperature checks, and social distancing standards.  Please also keep in mind of the following:

 

• Please refrain from bringing in non-appointed children to the practice

• For air travel, unless fully vaccinated, we will ask appointments to be made 10 days after return date (7 days with a negative test).

• If a family member has any symptoms within 14 days of an appointment, please let us know so that we can re-appoint you.

• Everyone age 2 and up are required to wear a mask

• We ask only one adult/parent to accompany your child/ren

• We will continue to be closed on Fridays

 

 

 

 

 

6/1/2020

 

Dear Patients and Families of PDSR

 

We hope this finds you and your family safe and well.  We are happy and excited to announce that we officially re-opened on June 1st!

 

In light of the current pandemic, we are limiting the volume of patients.  Existing appointments have been lengthened to enforce new laws and guidelines. We have refined our protocol which includes: 1) hourly disinfection of common areas; 2) maintenance of social distancing. 3) utilization of CDC recommended PPE’s, barriers and safety devices; a Pandemic Response Fee of $10 (insurances will be billed as D1999) will be included to each child’s appointment.  This was necessary to off-set the modifications and expenses accrued in maintaining a safe environment for everyone.

 

The following are new guideline and protocols that will be incorporated starting June 1st:

 

  • All patients will be screened prior to and day of their appointments. Similarly, all team members are screened at the start of their workday. Everyone’s temperature will be taken. Anyone exhibiting any symptoms will be asked to go home and/or reschedule.
  • Everyone over age 4 is required to wear a mask.
  • Only one accompanying adult is allowed at each visit.  Please refrain from brining any non-appointed child to the office.
  • Social distancing will be enforced.  Please wait either in your car or in the atrium if you arrive earlier than your appointed time.
  • Doors will be locked to prevent patients from entering the facilities earlier than their appointed time.  This is to prevent any congestion of patients checking in and out.  Please maintain social distancing as you wait for the doors to open.
  • Aerosol procedures will be restricted and/or limited and will be performed only in the isolation rooms in the back of the practice.  This pertains to patients of restorative appointments.  All cleanings and check-ups are now considered non-aerosol generating appointments.
  • Our office restroom will be used for handwashing only.  There is a restroom available in the common facilities of the building.
  • We kindly ask for your flexibility with changes to schedule, dentists/assistants to see your child.  We will do our best to avoid such changes, however, some changes may be necessary as prolonged usage of the N95 respirators can result in health concerns among our team members.
  • Unlike most offices, we provided nitrous oxide free of charge for the last 15 years.  Though it was a difficult decision, we decided to start implementing a $50 fee due to rising costs.  Unfortunately, this fee is typically not covered by insurance.
  • Online forms will be sent as a link on your email/text reminder.  Patient update and COVID screening forms should be submitted prior to your arrival.  Please fill one out for each child.
  • An EPA-approved disinfectant (hypochlorous acid) will be used to fog/mist our treatment and common areas.  This is commonly used in hospitals, cruise ships, and hotels as well as on your produce in the grocery stores.  For more information, please refer to https://www.hypochlorousacid.com/

 

We appreciate your patience as we prepare to open to this new normal and we look forward to seeing you again.  Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

 

-Dr. Rimi, Dr. Tami, and PDSR Team

 

 

 

 

5/7/2020

 

Dear Patients and Parents of PDSR,

 

We hope you all are staying safe & well - these are unprecedented and uncertain times for everyone…we miss seeing you and our patients.  We appreciate your understanding and patience as we prepare to fully return to the office with the “new normal”.  As most of you know the State of CA has extended the shelter in place to May 31st. For now, the ADA, CDA, CDPH (California Dept. of Public Health) still recommends limiting the scope of dental services to urgent and emergency care only.  As restrictions start to ease, we are closely monitoring updates from these organizations to guide us, so we can provide care in a safe manner.

 

We will resume our “new normal” hours on June 1st.  With this, however, we will be seeing a reduced number of patients to enable adequate social distancing and incorporate new infection control guidelines. During the past 8 weeks, many of you have been affected with treatments and routine visits being cancelled.  We will be reaching out based in the order in which you were originally scheduled.  Please be patient and refrain from calling our office, as incoming call will be directed to our voicemail.

 

For the safety of our patients & team we have implemented the following changes in appointment protocol:

 

Screening for COVID-19:

 

3 day prior to your visit: You will receive your email appointment reminder with a link to complete our online health screening and COVID-19 consent form - please fill this out as soon as possible. If it is not filled out by the time of your appointment, we'll ask you to fill it out at your arrival.

 

Day before your visit:  Our staff will review the required screening questions during your confirmation phone call. You’ll be asked those same questions again when you are in the office.  Any patients exhibiting potential COVID-19 symptoms will be asked to reschedule.

 

Limited entry:

To help maintain social distancing, patients and one accompanying adult will be allowed into the office.  If other family members are present without appointments, we kindly ask to wait in the atrium or in your vehicle.

 

Check in:

Please follow the social distancing placards marked on the floor.  As you enter, your entire party will be asked to wash your hands in our restroom.  A facemask or covering will be required for all entering our office (children 2 and under are exempt).

 

Please have all forms present (if not returned via email) and be prepared to have your temperature taken (adults and patients).  Any individual registering a temperature of 100 degree or higher will be asked to reschedule.  There will be designated seating areas to enforce social distancing.  If you prefer to wait in your car, please call us at (925) 806-0322 once you are parked. Once we are ready for you, we will call to notify you to come into the office. Please present to your appointment at the regularly scheduled time - not early or late.

 

Once Checked in:

 

Parents of patients ages 6 and under will be given priority and the option to accompany their child in the hygiene bay.

 

Post Appointment:

 

If you are able to schedule your next visit, please stop by the front desk to do so. If a parent is not present to schedule, please have a parent/guardian call and schedule your child’s next visit.

 

 

Additional measures we will be taking during this time:

 

We have always complied with strict OSHA-mandated protocols to maintain a highly sterile environment within our office. We've taken additional measures in cooperation with the evolving updates through the CDC, OSHA, CDA & the ADA:

 

1 Team Member Health Screening:  Our team members undergo health history screenings before commencing employment. In addition, we strictly enforce sick policies that require employees suffering from communicable illnesses to stay home from work until they have clearance by a physician to return and have received supervisor approval. Employees who have traveled to a country with a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Level 3 Travel Health Notice are required to self-quarantine for 14 days prior to returning to work. At this time, everyone is required to wear a mask and to log in their temperatures daily.

 

2 Sterilization Procedures: We have always prided ourselves in the highest standard of infection control.  However, with the current crisis, we have stepped it up even more.  The foundation of our infection control procedures have always been based on requirements established by the CDC. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) used in our office will now include gowns, eye-protective wear with side protection, full face shields, surgical masks/N95 respirators, head coverings, and latex-free gloves so that no fluids can be passed between staff and patients. Strict surface sterilization procedures are followed to clean and disinfect all operatory surfaces between patients and after each use.  All dental instruments are disinfected and heat sterilized in medical steam autoclave machines in individual sterile pouches.

 

 

3 Common Area Disinfecting:  All office areas are disinfected every hour. This includes a thorough wipe down of all hard surfaces, such as door handles, door knobs, tables, chairs and front office counters with a disinfectant wipe. In addition, patients are being advised to practice social distancing in our lobby area or wait in their cars if preferred. Patients will no longer be able to access our water fountains to brush, rinse, or spit.  Use of our lavatory will be strictly limited for hand washing and we ask to have your child use the restroom prior to arrival or utilize the building’s common-use restroom in the atrium.  Our coffee & water stations will be temporarily discontinued and all toys, books, magazines, and pamphlets have been removed.  Prizes will be added to each child’s goodie bag due to the elimination of our prize bins and sticker station.

 

4 Air Quality: HEPA filtration & air purification units have been placed in both our reception & clinic areas. Our units effectively filter 99.5% of harmful ultrafine particles down to 0.3 microns in size.

 

5 Minimizing of Aerosol: In dentistry, air turbine hand pieces, ultrasonic scaler (cavitron), polishing cups, and use of air/water syringe creates aerosol (airborne viruses, bacteria and particulate matter).  For the time being, use of these equipment will be limited or restricted.  Team members participating in these aerosol-generating procedures will be confined to specific designated areas to minimize interaction with the rest of the office.  For these type of treatment procedures  (fillings, crowns, sealants, etc.), we will also be asking patients to swish with a hydrogen peroxide rinse (if tolerated) and encourage these patients to come back unaccompanied. Aerosols are also minimized with the use of rubber dams and high volume suction; which already have been implemented by PDSR prior to this pandemic.

 

 

We are here for you!  Please email us at info@pediatricdentistry-sanramon.com for any questions or concerns.

 

We appreciate your cooperation during this time - We will resume our “new normal” scheduling starting June 1st and will be in close communication with you as things evolve.  We will give you our promise to do everything in our control to maintain a positive, safe environment for everyone during this uncertain time.

 

Warmest regards-

 

Dr. Rimi, Dr. Tami, and PDSR Team