The question is getting extra attention now that the World Health Organization cautioned against going for your routine dental checkups, but the California and American Dental Associations both strongly disagree with that warning.
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So, what should you do about your check-up? Dr. Michael Wong in San Mateo says to find out what protocols and actions your dentist is taking to keep everyone safe. After taking a tour of Dr. Wong's office, we found out he has a lot in place.
RELATED: Dental check-up safety debated amid COVID-19 pandemic
We first started with a look at where patients wait outside before they come in. Each patient texts when they arrive. Once inside, they sanitize their hands, put on gloves and wear a mask. They are then screened. Dr. Wong says all patients wear masks until they are in the dentist chair.
Each patient does an anti-bacterial, anti-viral mouth rinse before being seen.
While the patient is being worked on, there is a high-volume suction device meant to suck up all aerosols in the room. They also have an air filtration device and high-volume vacuums. On top of that, they have a fogger meant to kill any traces of COVID-19 within one minute. They fog the room once it's done and fog everyone involved with the patient.
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Check out the tour in the video above
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