Westlake Dental Associates continues to innovate

By Adam Cook

As always, the patient comes first at Westlake Dental Associates—even when the challenges of Covid-19 disrupt business as usual.

Dr. Chrys Constantinou, Dr. Jessica Chrzanowski, and Dr. Allyson McClendon commit to the best practices of the American Dental Association (ADA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), so their patients can come back to an even better practice.

Westlake Dental reopened Monday, May 4, 2020, following Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s announcement that dentists’ offices could begin seeing patients again.

“Our community has been through a lot over these last few months, and all of us are looking forward to resuming our normal habits and routines,” Dr. Constantinou says. “We will attempt to accommodate patients with the most urgent needs while we assess the continued availability of PPE [Personal Protective Equipment].”

Dentists’ offices have long worn the PPE many are only now becoming acquainted with. For as long as there are ongoing demands on supply, Westlake Dental wants to make sure that PPE goes to first responders, the people at the frontlines, who need it most.

Westlake Dental is also augmenting its existing stringent sanitizing procedures. Patients will be able to spot one of the additional measures in the waiting room where, in an indication of how Covid-19 has changed the world as we know it, there will be no more magazines.

Westlake Dental is also assessing the availability of Covid-19 testing, as well as contact tracing, so patients will have to answer some additional questions, in addition to following new procedures.

Adaptation has always been an integral part of the practice. The Westlake Dental team actively incorporates best practices, learns new procedures, and adopts the latest technology, such as the Solea Dental Laser, a replacement for the dentist’s drill in most cases, or the CEREC machine. This digital imaging technology can compress the time it takes to get a tooth crowned into a single appointment. Above all, the practice consistently puts people, those intended to benefit from the innovations it enacts, first.

“Every day we’re assessing the situation, and every decision we make, first and foremost, is in the best interest of our patients,” Dr. Constantinou says.

“We’re responding to this community health crisis in much the same way we do our patients. We get to know each patient first, then discuss treatment options—the right decision for one patient may not be the right decision for another right now. Just as we treat the whole person, we’re closely monitoring the changing character of this pandemic and adapting to ensure the best practices.”

The New Normal in Protection
Here is a list of changes Westlake Dental is implementing to help protect patients and employees:

• The office will communicate with you beforehand to ask some screening questions. You will be asked those same questions again when you are in the office.
• Please limit extra companions on your trip to only essential people in order to aid in social distancing efforts.
• When you arrive at the office, please notify them by text or call and remain in your car. A team member will bring you straight back to your disinfected room when ready.
• Temperatures will be taken at the start of every appointment for every patient, and at the start of a work shift for every employee.
• We have hand sanitizer that we will ask you to use when you enter the office. You will also find some in the reception area and other places in the office for you to use as needed.
• You may see that the waiting room will no longer offer magazines, children’s toys, and so forth since those items are difficult to clean and disinfect.
• Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you are offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment.
• Westlake Dental will do its best to allow greater time between patients to reduce waiting times for you, as well as to reduce the number of patients in the reception area at any one time.

Right now, patients’ urgent needs take precedence. Westlake Dental has put routine cleanings and exams on hold, as the office, along with the rest of the state, begins the first phase of reopening.

Dr. Constantinou says a missed cleaning now and then is not detrimental, but says it’s essential that patients continue to practice good dental hygiene and address issues with their teeth and gums. Avoiding these issues now could adversely affect their overall, long-term health.

“The mouth is the gateway to the body,” says Dr. Constantinou. “Inflammation or irritating factors in the gums are likely to affect the rest of the body. Correlations have been made to heart disease, low birth weight and diabetes. Urgent issues today will only become more urgent tomorrow.”

Westlake Dental Associates is located at 25575 Center Ridge Road. Request an appointment by calling 440-835-8999 or visit WestlakeDentalAssociates.com. Hours are Monday-Wednesday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Thursday and Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.