Some of our patients may have seen recent news coverage indicating that non-urgent dental care in Washington will be suspended starting December 3rd. We want to inform you that these reports are incorrect. Non-urgent dental care in Washington is not being suspended and our office will remain open.
As always, your safety is our foremost concern. We want to reassure you that we are following guidelines from the American Dental Association (ADA), CDC, and Washington State Department of Health to keep our patients and team healthy and safe, and that these guidelines are working. To date, according to the CDC, there has been no documented transmission of COVID-19 in a clinical dental setting. Oral health is integral to your overall health so keeping your scheduled and routines appointments is imperative. We look forward to safely welcoming you to our office. We have also included our Covid-19 procedures at the base of this email for your reference.
Lastly, as the end of the year approaches, we want to remind you that your 2020 dental insurance benefits may expire soon. Many employer-sponsored benefit plans run on a calendar year, which means funds must be used between January 1 and December 31. These include not only your dental insurance, but most flexible spending funds, pre-tax dental dollars, and medical/dental tax deductions. Unused insurance benefits do not roll over into the next year. This is our busiest time of year with patients capturing these annual benefits and our schedule is filling up fast.
If you have pending dental work and would like to utilize any remaining benefits, we encourage you to call our office at (206) 682-3383 to reserve a convenient time as soon as you can. The earlier you call, the more likely we will be able to see you before December 31.
This is also the time when you should start planning for next year. If you need help estimating your 2021 treatment expenses in order to set up your flexible spending accounts, or pre-tax dental dollars, we would be glad to help. Just give us a call and we can set up a time to talk.
Thank you and we hope to see you soon!
Sincerely,
Pavinee Chotiwannaporn, DDS, MSc
Luis Alvarado, DDS, MSD
Seattle Specialty Dentistry’s COVID-19 Procedures:
- Health-Screening Questions: You will be contacted 48-72 hours prior to your appointment via phone, text, or email and asked a set of health-screening questions. We will have to reschedule your appointment if we are unable to complete this step. We will also record your temperature and re-evaluate upon arrival.
- Companion: Please come to your appointment alone unless assistance is required. This is an effort to reduce traffic to the office.
- Face Mask: We will be wear
