Our Commitment to Your Health and Safety

Using the latest in sanitization and health precautions

At Peninsula Family Dentistry, we take our sanitization, patient safety, and employee safety concerns very seriously. It is the best way to ensure that we are doing what we can do to keep each of us safe and healthy. With the exception of the use of masks at the front desk, these precautions have been employed from the moment we opened our doors.

According to decades-established universal precautions, we treat every procedure as having the potential to release infectious bacteria or viruses. We place your health, our health, and the reasonable and effective containment of pathogen-containing* substances at the forefront of every procedure, while still treating you as a real person.

On the flip side, we make every effort to keep you from contracting even a mild illness from any one of us, and when our staff is not feeling well, they stay home.

Following is a list of our sanitization and safety practices used to help you and your loved ones stay healthy at Peninsula Family Dentistry.

Until it is deemed no longer necessary, our full team, including front-desk staff will wear masks during business hours. Our procedural staff members wear masks, single-use gloves, eye protection, and fluid-repellent clinical gowns during procedures. The gowns are processed by a local healthcare garment service. A combination of hand washing and hand sanitizing is appropriate according to WISHA/DQAC** standards.

Our waiting room is now set up for social distancing. Hand sanitizer is available to all patients and masks are appreciated. Hard surfaces will be sanitized and sensitive surfaces (i.e. fabric) will be cleaned with soap and water.

All treatment rooms, equipment, tools, and supplies are disinfected or sterilized at a minimum according to WISHA/DQAC standards, and manufacturer recommendations.

After every patient, the following occurs:

• Front desk staff use sanitizer between patients and when materials such as insurance or payment cards are touched
• Any used single-use supplies are disposed of
• Reusable supplies and instruments are scrubbed and run through an ultrasonic bath which chemically and mechanically removes solid contaminants before being wrapped in special paper, date stamped, and steamed. (We no longer use cold sterilization systems for reusable items.)
• All treatment room (operatory) surfaces are disinfected with hospital-grade hydrogen peroxide products, even our waterproof computer mice and keyboards
• Sensitive surfaces (upholstery) are cleaned with soap and water
• Our operatory water supply for oral rinses, cleanings, and our tools’ cooling spray is kept in self-contained, treated containers. This water does not run directly from city water lines

* A pathogen is a bacterium, virus, or other microorganism that can cause disease.

** Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act, Dental Quality Assurance Commission