Dear Patient,

As everyone is aware, the COVID-19 pandemic is a rapidly evolving situation. The regulatory body for dentistry in Ontario, RCDSO, just released a communique on March 15, 2020 to all dentists in the province of Ontario recommending that dental / oral surgery offices close for all elective procedures immediately and remain closed until at least April 5, 2020.

In keeping with this recommendation, Argyle Associates will now be closed for all elective procedures effective immediately.

We will continue to see patients at our Kanata office who require emergent care which includes uncontrolled dental pain, dental related infection and other acute issues deemed appropriate.

All patients will be screened by phone in advance of their appointment to determine if their situation constitutes an emergency and to ensure that they pass COVID-19 active screening protocol.

Please note that you will not be seen in office if you fall into any of the following categories:

• You have symptoms of an upper respiratory tract infection (cough, runny nose, sore throat);
• You have a fever (temperature of 38 degrees Celsius or more);
• You have travelled outside of Canada within the past 14 days;
• You have had close contact with someone who has acute respiratory illness who has travelled outside of Canada in the last 14 days ;
• You have had close contact with a confirmed or probable case of Covid-19.

If you have an emergency, but don’t pass COVID-19 active screening, we encourage you to contact Ottawa Public Health to discuss an appropriate course of treatment.

If you do not fall into any of these categories and will be coming to the office, the following protocols will apply:

• We will be actively screening patients at reception. Patients who fail screening due to upper respiratory symptoms will have their appointment cancelled and will be advised to follow up with their primary health care provider.
• We will only allow 1 visitor to accompany patients into the office for their emergency appointment. Please note, the protocol outlined above applies to the visitor as well. In order to adhere to recommended social distancing guidelines, when appropriate we will ask the person accompanying you to wait for you outside of the office and we will call them to come back to the office when you are ready for discharge.

• We will not have you wait in our waiting room. If possible, you will be taken to either a consult or treatment room immediately upon entering the office. If no rooms are available, we will ask you to wait outside the office and we will call you to come in when a room becomes available. While not ideal, this will allow us to adhere to social distancing guidelines.

We appreciate your continued patience during these unprecedented times.

The Surgeons and Staff at Argyle Associates