COVID-19 Update From Our Principal Dentist, Dr. Ricky Freytag

April 27th, 2020

GOOD NEWS!

As of Monday 27th April 2020 dentistry as moved down from Level 3 restrictions to Level 2. Though we are still limited with our treatments, we are back to about 70-80% of what we can treat you for. We can now carry out more routine dental treatment such as routine exam and cleans, routine fillings, consults, and orthodontic treatment.

What we have been restricted from doing is trying to minimise any aerosol treating treatments; this includes using the ultrasonic cleaner during cleans. It does mean we will be doing cleans by hand which will take a little longer. All our restorations will be under rubber damn to minimise creating any saliva aerosols.

Implant treatment and crowns will have to be delayed unless critically essential. But we can still treatment plan for them.

At this stage we will also still be open limited hours as we get back to ‘normal’. Our hours are going to be restricted from Monday to Friday 9am till 4pm at this stage. We will not have any late nights or Saturday appointments for the time being.

We apologise for any inconvenience this might cause.

What are we doing to keep you safe?

So you know we are keeping you and everyone safe under Level 2 restrictions we are still taking all the precautions as with Level 3.

We are having all appointments for at least an hour long. We are only having 1 dentist on per day. This gives us the chance to use 2 rooms to allow our nurses to fully disinfect every room under NO time restraints. This also minimises patients in the waiting room and patient cross over to try and reduce any cross-contamination.

Along with those extra precautions we also have our previous precautions of distancing our waiting room chairs, full disinfection of front waiting room after EVERY patient including all pens, EFTPOS machine, front desk, door handles etc. We will have alcohol gel at the front door, at the front desk, and in every room for your use.

All our staff will be in disposable personal protection equipment (PPE) to again minimise any cross-contamination.

We please remind you to follow our COVID-19 Policy

1. Have you been interstate or overseas in the last 2-3 weeks?
2. Have you been around anyone that has been overseas in the last 2-3 weeks?
3. Do you have ANY signs of cold or flu including running nose, sneezing, cough, fever, difficulty breathing etc?
4. Have you been in contact with any cold or flu-like symptoms?
5. Have you been in contact with a confirmed case of the coronavirus?

If you have answered “YES” to any of these questions, please DO NOT attend to the clinic.

Please give us a call to reschedule your appointment for at least 2-3 weeks.

We are so excited to be able to see all of you again, but you will notice we will have minimal staff working on any given day. We will try to slowly build up to where we were before. We thank you for your understanding during these tough times. All things considered, it is great that we’re doing so well as a community, a state, and as a country!

See you all soon! In the meantime, stay smart & stay safe.

– Dr. Richard Freytag and the team at Portrush Family Dental

An Announcement From Our Principal Dentist, Dr. Ricky Freytag

March 27th 2020

Today was the toughest day I’ve had as a dental practice owner.

The Australian Dental Association and the Australian Government have effectively shut down dental to emergency treatment only, and treatment that is likely to cause a problem in 4-6 months.

It broke my heart telling my work family that we might have stand some of them down until we as the Australian people (with the Government’s help) gets this virus under control. I can honestly say I’ve never worked with such a great bunch of people, and hopefully it won’t be long till we are all working together again.

So from Monday 30th March 2020, we will only be seeing emergency treatment that is likely to cause issues within 4-6 months as per the recommendations and directives that we’ve been provided by the nation’s leaders. If you have an appointment coming up, we will be in contact with you after your treating practitioner has triaged whether your proposed work is urgent or not. Please don’t try and argue or abuse the staff. We understand that you will be frustrated or angry at our decision, but we know it’s the ‘right’ thing to do for the sake of our community and medical teams on the frontlines against this horrendous virus. This is what a world without vaccines looks like, and it’s scary.

We will also be operating with minimal staff, and will only be open from 9am-1pm Monday to Friday. Please be patient with us.

If the phones are unattended, please leave a message and we will get back to you ASAP.

Take the time to read this article and why we need the drastic measures: https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-the-hammer-and-the-dance-be9337092b56

And in case you’re wondering, we are also facing the prospect for financial ruin just like everyone else, but we’ll do what we need to do, and will borrow what we need to make sure Portrush Family Dental will be open for trade when this crisis passes.

Please stay safe & follow the social distancing rules.

– Dr Richard Freytag and the team at Portrush Family Dental❤️

For more information, please also watch https://youtu.be/tQD4B_hmdvo

We Sincerely Ask All Patients To Observe Our COVID-19 Policy:

1. Have you been interstate or overseas in the last 2-3 weeks?
2. Have you been around anyone that has been overseas in the last 2-3 weeks?
3. Do you have ANY signs of cold or flu including running nose, sneezing, cough, fever, difficulty breathing etc?
4. Have you been in contact with any cold or flu like symptoms?
5. Have you been in contact with a confirmed case of the coronavirus?

Our dental clinic is QIP accredited, this is a national accreditation which holds us to the strictest standards of infection control which we adhere to at all times, not just during this pandemic. This includes:

• Strict use of personal protection equipment such as gloves, masks and glasses
• Single-use sterilisation bags for instruments with indicators to ensure 100% bacterial disinfection
• All instruments are examined, tracked and noted in patients’ files
• Daily testing of sterilisation equipment to ensure peak performance
• Antibacterial disinfection of all equipment and benches after each patient

We have now increased the frequency of our daily disinfection control to the whole of the waiting room including bathrooms. This includes and not limited to all door handles, taps, bench tops, light switches etc. We are doing this every hour.

We have removed all magazines and childrens toys to try and prevent any cross-contamination.