Covid-19 Safety Measures

Our Covid-19 Safety Measures


To our patients and families:

We hope you are all in good health. The world has been through a lot over the past few months, and all of us are looking forward to resuming our normal habits and routines. As we get ready to re-open our office, pending final recommendations from the Governor’s Office, we are now taking additional measures based on the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and American Dental Association (ADA) guidelines. We follow the activities of these agencies so that we are up-to-date on any new rulings or guidance that may be issued.

We have put a lot of time and thought into our new infection control protocols, in an effort to keep our patients, team and community healthy and safe. As you would expect, things will be a little different when you come to our office, in order to address any potential Covid-19 concerns:

Aerosol: Unlike a general dental practice where routine fillings and cleanings require the intra-oral use of handpieces and ultrasonics, a dental sleep medicine practice such as ours only requires very limited use of rotary instrumentation for small appliance adjustments outside the mouth - which can be done in the lab instead of the patient operatory. Therefore our procedures involve no aerosol generation in any patient operatories - only in a distant, locked laboratory area under hood and with constant medical-grade HEPA air filtration. In addition, all our operatories are private and equipped with HEPA air purifiers that allow for air scrubbing in between patients.

Special scheduling arrangements can be made for patients at higher risk – such as reserving first morning appointments

Social distancing: we are scheduling only one patient at a time and asking patients to wait in the car until they are ready to be escorted to their operatory.

Pre-appointment screening and remote temperature checks on all staff and patients

We will soon implement no-charge telemedicine appointments through HIPAA-secure platforms, available for follow-ups and any other aspects of treatment that can be practically conducted remotely, to minimize exposure and travel time for our patient

Aggressive surface disinfection with products that are EPA-approved for use against Covid-19

  • Please do not arrive for an appointment if you or someone close to you is sick or feverish.

  • Our office will communicate with you beforehand to ask some screening questions. You’ll be asked those same questions again when you are in the office.

  • We have hand sanitizer that we will ask you to use when you enter the office.

  • You may see that our waiting room will no longer offer magazines, since those items are Difficult to clean and disinfect.

  • When you arrive for your appointment, please call 509-290-6044 from your car. We will let you know when we are ready to get you seated in our office.

  • We will be checking temperatures of everyone entering the office.

  • We also request that family members wait in the car, if possible, during the appointment.

We have also altered our schedule to allow for social distancing. This means fewer people in the office at any given time. We ask for your patience as we reschedule over two months of appointments and efficacy sleep studies, especially given the new American Academy of Sleep Medicine home sleep study (HST) guidelines. We will be calling in the coming weeks to get you back on our schedule.

We look forward to seeing you again and are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we take to keep you, and every patient, safe in our practice. To make an appointment, please call our office at (509) 290-6044 or visit our website at www.spokanesleepapneadentistry.com/

Thank you for being our patient! We value your trust and loyalty and look forward to welcoming back our patients, neighbors and friends.

Dr Liana Groza, DDS

Diplomate, American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine

May 16, 2020