COVID-19 Update

March 24, 2020

To all our patients and community members:

Firstly, all members of the Blueridge OMS team would like to offer our most sincere wishes of safety and health while the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic remains a very active and continually evolving situation.

 Our provincial regulatory body, the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario (RCDSO), has officially recommended against providing treatment of all “non-essential and elective” dental and oral surgical procedures during this time, acting in the critical interest of public welfare. Our team at Blueridge OMS have acted in accordance with these recommendations, and as a result, have closed our Hamilton and Burlington locations, retroactive to March 15, 2020.

 We are, at the same time, fully cognizant that urgent dental and oral surgical issues will persist in the midst of the current public health situation. In light of this, our Oakville location remains open to provide services for patients with oral surgery-based emergencies for two days per week. Our staff surgeons are also providing medical advice directly to patients and through dental practices over the telephone on an on-call basis. Our help line can be reached at 905-592-2599.

Please note that, as explicitly defined by the RCDSO, “emergency situations” comprise oral-facial trauma, significant infection, prolonged bleeding or pain which cannot be adequately managed by over-the-counter medications. Our staff will be utilizing these criteria as a basis to select which patients qualify as emergencies requiring in-office clinical assessment and treatment.

Patients that are deemed appropriate to be seen in our office will be screened over the phone prior to arriving to assess their clinical condition and to determine if they pass COVID-19 screening protocol.

Unfortunately, we cannot allow in-office assessment and/or treatment if any patients meet any of the following conditions:

• They are currently experiencing symptoms indicative of a viral or upper respiratory tract infection, including but not limited to: fever (temperature at or above 38 degrees Celsius), cough, runny nose, sore throat or difficulty breathing,
• They have returned to Canada from travel to any country outside of Canada within the last 14 days,
• They have had close contact with a confirmed, probable or suspected case of COVID-19 OR
• They have had close contact with a person or person(s) with acute respiratory illness who has returned from an area impacted by COVID-19.

 We will determine a safe and effective alternative course of action or treatment for any patients who are deemed an emergency but who fail COVID-19 screening protocol.

 All patients who have been referred for non-emergent consults and had elective procedures already booked with us will be contacted once our offices return to normal operation.

 As aforementioned, the circumstances surrounding the pandemic remain ever-changing and fluid. As such, our decision to keep our two locations closed and all the aforementioned modifications to our practice, will be constantly re-assessed.

We highly appreciate your patience during these trying times, as we attempt to serve our communities while also working to act towards the health and safety of the general public by mitigating the spread and threat of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

 Sincerely,

 The Blueridge OMS Team