Health Safety Protocols

To Our Valued Patients at Surprise Smiles,

Welcome! We are open, looking forward to seeing returning patients, accepting new patients, and operating under normal business hours! The Arizona Department of Health Services (AZDS) is still not recommending any type of closures or modification in hours. We will continue to monitor information coming from both the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and AZDHS and keep you apprised of any changes or updates. We will stay on top of this information and bring it to you as soon as possible through our website, email, and social media.

As we continue to navigate through the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, our dentists and dental team want to assure you that we are continuing to do our best to make sure it a priority that we are following the latest health and safety guidelines from the CDC, specifically as they relate to the dental industry. We value keeping our patients and staff members safe and comfortable.

As part of our daily standard health and safety protocols, our office follows ‘Universal Precautions’ in order to protect our patients and our staff. These are precautions we have always taken, and are not new. By taking ‘universal precautions’ means we always assume that anyone could potentially be carrying a contagious and dangerous disease. We therefore follow strict guidelines to prevent the transmission of any potential disease, be it COVID-19 (Coronavirus), hepatitis, tuberculosis, HIV, or any other disease. This has been a standard of care we follow, per the CDC, in regard to blood borne pathogens.

These measures include:
• strict hand washing protocols

• use of (single use) disposable protective equipment and barriers

• thorough disinfection of exposed or potentially exposed surfaces after every patient visit

• disinfection and high-heat steam sterilization of instruments and routine monitoring of sterilization verification

• continued education on infection control

Specific to COVID-19 (Coronavirus) we have added in additional precautionary and cleaning measures including:
• disinfecting common surface areas every 30 minutes

• providing hand sanitizer in common areas

• screening everyone who enters our offices based on CDC recommendations

• offering preprocedural mouth rinse

As state and national health and safety regulations change and evolve during these times, Surprise Smiles is dedicated to monitoring and evaluating our dental practice and office space for any potential risks as we serve our patients and community. We strive to maintain an approach to our dentistry services that is both safe and beneficial to everyone we serve.

We strive to provide a safe, healthy, comfortable, and relaxed environment for everyone that comes into our dental office. We follow the American Dental Association’s Update to Office Procedures During COVID-19 in regard to safe office procedures, workplace hazards, and making decisions for best office practices. We stay informed on recent information given to dentists in this regard, as well as keeping up to date with any changes recommended by the CDC.

Please let us know if you have any questions in regard to our health and safety protocols here at Surprise Smiles. We recognize that it can be challenging during these unprecedented times of COVID-19. We all want to get back to our normal lives, and we will be able to do so, in a safe, wise, and healthy manner. We will be happy to answer any questions that you may have in regard to our dental practice health and safety protocols, cleaning, and disinfecting procedures we follow.

Thank you for continuing to be a valued patient here at Bradshaw Family Dental. We look forward to continuing to serve you and your dental needs through the various services we provide for you, from preventive dentistry, restorative dentistry, cosmetic dentistry, pediatric dentistry, sedation dentistry, dental implants and more!

Reasons you Should Avoid Teeth Whitening at Home

Posted on 10/13/2015 by Dr. Andrew Zeiger

A before and after picture of a client's teeth being whitened.

If you go to the local drugstore and look at the tooth whitening products, you are likely to get overwhelmed - there are so many choices! This must mean that you can whiten your teeth at home and have successful results, right? Unfortunately, you cannot. Yes, there are a slight few people that will have the desired success, but these people are few and far between. Most people do not get the desired results, which means they just threw that time and money that was invested in the tooth whitening products out the window.

Extrinsic Stains
Typically, the only stains that are successfully whitened with over-the-counter products are extrinsic stains. These are the stains that are strictly on the exterior of your teeth. These stains are superficial and occur as a result of your food and drink habits. The most offending food/drinks include coffee, tea, and soda, berries, and tomatoes. If you smoke, you could also have extrinsic stains from the tobacco. These stains, if they are minor, might benefit from an OTC tooth whitening product, but there are no promises.

Intrinsic Stains
Intrinsic stains are the more common culprit in tooth stains. These stains are on the interior of your tooth and cannot be scrubbed away with a toothbrush or whitened with an over-the-counter product. Intrinsic stains occur for a variety of reasons including trauma, certain medications, excessive fluoride consumption, and certain dental health conditions.

Whitening Teeth

The problem with trying to whiten teeth on your own is that you do not know the type of stains you have or the state of your oral health. If you are trying to eliminate intrinsic stains, no amount of whitening will work. Even if you are dealing with extrinsic stains, if your teeth and gums are not healthy, the attempts will be unsuccessful. If you come into the office for professional whitening, on the other hand, we can evaluate the health of your mouth and make the appropriate suggestions.

In many cases, we can perform professional teeth whitening, providing you greater results than you could at home. The process is very simple and takes less than one hour to complete. It is non-invasive and there is no recovery time; you could have it done on your lunch hour and head back to work!

If we are unable to whiten your teeth with tooth whitening products, we also have the option of offering dental veneers. This cosmetic dentistry option does not depend on the types of stains that are occurring as it is essentially another layer of enamel that we place over your existing teeth. Dental veneers are a great option for stains, as well as crooked teeth, large gaps, or slightly misaligned teeth. This permanent option does not require any upkeep with the exception of practicing proper oral hygiene to prevent them from staining as well.

Changing your Oral Habits

The best way to deal with stains is to prevent them from occurring in the first place. If you know that you have bad habits that are staining your teeth, try to change them. If you drink or eat offending foods, try to limit your consumption or at the very least, drinking water immediately following their consumption to decrease the risk of them staining your teeth. Of course, you should also keep up your dental health habits including brushing/flossing twice a day and visiting our office twice a year for a proper exam and dental cleaning.

If you are unhappy with the appearance of your teeth, please call us today to make an appointment! We will get your teeth looking as good as new!

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Bradshaw Family Dental
& Smile Design Center

Prescott Valley
7136 East Pav Way
Prescott Valley, AZ 86314
(928) 277-0076

Prescott
172 E Merritt St.
Suite F
Prescott, Arizona 86301
(928) 443-1200

Dental Blog - Prescott Valley, AZ • Bradshaw Family Dental
Dr. Frausto & Associates are providing this blog to enlighten their patients and the community. At Bradshaw Family Dental our hope is this blog will cover any issues that you and your family may need.
Bradshaw Family Dental, 7136 East Pav Way, Prescott Valley, AZ 86314; (928) 277-0076; bradshawfamilydental.com; 10/10/2024; Tags: dentist Prescott Valley;