Tentative Plan to Re-Open Monday, May 11th.
Thank you for your patience and support during this challenging time. We continue to treat patients who have urgent or emergency dental needs. The State and local health authorities have left it up to the judgment of each individual dental professional regarding when to re-open. We have made the decision to treat all patients, including those with non-urgent dental needs, beginning Monday, May 11th.
Dr. Kelli Henderson
Office Now Closed through April 30th
Growing Smiles Closed for COVID-19 Precaution
At Growing Smiles, our main goal has always been to protect the health of our patients, our team, and our community. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re closing the office for all non-urgent dental treatment starting tomorrow, Thursday, March 19, 2020, and re-open Monday, April 6, 2020.
This closure is based on information from the American Dental Association, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the Kansas Dental Association and the CDC. While we are disappointed we won’t be able to provide your family with the best pediatric dental care, we want to do what we can to protect the health, safety and welfare of our communities and families.
We will contact you as soon as the office reopens or if this date changes. Here are some more details you should know:
– If your child has a dental emergency or needs urgent care, please contact us and we’ll take care of you. If your child is in pain, has a broken tooth or an abscess, please respond to this email or contact the office at (785) 856-5600. The regulatory authorities have made an exception for treatment that is urgent or is a dental emergency.
– We have team members and doctors ready to respond to all emergency and urgent visits; however, because most of the front desk team will be taking care of their families and on a limited schedule at the office, response to your request may take longer than normal. Please call 911 or seek immediate medical attention if you think your child needs it. However, our goal is always to serve our patients in an efficient and expedited manner and we will work to make sure we accomplish this to the best of our team member’s abilities during these times.
– If your child has essential ongoing treatment with us, we will keep them on the schedule or re-appoint treatment as needed. We will be reaching out to each of you individually as we know more.
– Our online practice portal is always open. You can log in to look up past appointments, pay your bill, and access our office forms and documents
We wish you all good health. Please know that we will get through this together!
Patient & Family Preparedness Policy for COVID-19 Outbreak
Updated Sunday, March 15, 2020
Growing Smiles has updated and published their patient and family preparedness policy for the COVID-19 outbreak. A copy of the PDF can be downloaded here:
Download PDF Version of Patient & Family Preparedness Policy for COVID-19 Outbreak
A Message About COVID-19 From Dr. Henderson
Updated Thursday, March 12, 2020
The health and safety of our patients, their families and the Growing Smiles’ team is our highest priority. I wanted to update you on our response to COVID-19.
All currently scheduled appointments will continue as planned until further notice. We continue to rely upon guidance from the Kansas Dental Board, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, the American Dental Association and the Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health and will utilize their expertise about any changes to patient care policies moving forward. Additionally, we are monitoring information from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Standard precautions and care are taken with all patients, at all times. Our regular sterilization and disinfection protocols are designed to be effective at preventing COVID-19, the flu and other communicable diseases. Our office is equipped with state-of-art sterilization equipment that is monitored daily. We are currently prepared and stocked with the necessary materials (masks, gloves, cleaning supplies, etc) to practice universal precautions that allow us to provide safe and effective pediatric dental care. However, we are prepared to implement an emergency response plan, if necessary.
If your child is currently scheduled for an upcoming appointment and you or your child develops respiratory or flu-like symptoms, please notify our office immediately at (785) 856-5600.
If anything changes and we need to modify an existing appointment, we will notify you directly. Our thoughts are with you and your family during this challenging time.
Resources:
- Latest Updates from the World Health Organization – Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak
- The COVID-19 Situation Summary from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Guidance on the Coronoavirus from the American Dental Association
- The COVID-19 Resource Center from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment
- Information from the COVID-19 (2019 Novel Coronavirus) from Lawrence Douglas County Public Health
- Coronavirus FAQ by the American Dental Association
- COVID-19 Resource Center by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment
- Coronavirus, the virus which causes COVID-19
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including masks
- Communicating with patients
- Maintaining the practice’s physical environment