May 12, 2020
To our Orthodontic Family:
Great news! We’ve been cleared by the California Dental Association and the State of California to reopen our office. We are so excited to see you! Thank you in advance for reading this message. It contains very important information about your upcoming and future appointments so please be sure to read it in its entirety.
It is important to note that ALL appointments on our books through and including May 15th have been cancelled and will need to be rescheduled. If you had an appointment scheduled that needed to be canceled due to our temporary closure, we will call you to reschedule your appointment. So, please wait for us to reach out to you. This will allow us to best manage the office calendar so that we can reschedule your appointment in the most efficient way possible based on the new protocols that we must follow. Over the next 7 weeks, we have increased the number of days we are working in order for you to be seen as quickly as possible. Again, please be patient and wait for us to contact you.
Will be also reaching out to those patients that either missed their appointment and had yet to reschedule before our office closure or did not schedule an appointment after their last time seen in our office. However, as a failsafe, if you have not heard from our office by June 8th, please call us.
When we speak with you please inform us if you have a broken bracket. As a reminder, a broken bracket is no longer “glued” to the tooth and will slide on the wire when pushed by your finger. We are unable to fix broken brackets if we do not know about them ahead of time. Failure to communicate broken brackets to us during the rescheduling process will result in you having to come back to the office for an additional appointment. This is an infection control issue, not a convenience issue on our end, so we appreciate your understanding.
Finally, for those patients who are in our recall system such as those wearing retainers, patients between Phase 1 and Phase 2 of treatment or patients that we are monitoring their growth and development until they are ready to get started with treatment, we will continue reach out to schedule your appointments as we have in the past. However, if you are having a problem with your retainer (or you have lost them), contact us so we can see you as soon as possible.
Just prior to your upcoming appointment we will be emailing or texting you some very important information about your visit to the office. While your check-in may involve a few extra steps, this will help ensure the safety of all of our patients and orthodontic team. For instance, the process may include screening and filling out some brief forms, waiting in your vehicle versus the reception area, checking your temperature or asking that you follow social distancing and infection control etiquette. While the appointment process may look a little different, don’t worry, we have always been on the front lines of preventing the spread of diseases. From treatment and reception room disinfection to the strict use of personal protective equipment (PPE), the safety of patients and staff members continues to be of utmost importance.
Thank you all for your patience, understanding, and support! We can’t wait to see you.
Dr. Kardovich and the entire Orthodontics Team