Dear patients and families of Escott Orthodontics,

I want to personally thank everyone for their patience during this time when appointments have been delayed and rescheduled. Our team is working hard preparing to re-open our practice, and we look forward to welcoming back our patients over the coming weeks. As always, we remain dedicated to your health and safety, and our commitment to protecting our family of patients has guided our preparation.

We have always ensured that we maintain the highest infection control standards in the dental profession. When you return, you will notice a few things are done differently in order to observe recommendations from the CDC and state/local authorities, especially with respect to maximizing social distancing throughout our office.

Here are some important things you should know before your next visit:

Rescheduling Appointments

• We will contact you to schedule your delayed appointment. We are prioritizing visits by most overdue, and will reach out to patients in this order. As we book appointments, we are being careful not to overbook so that we can observe social distancing guidelines. It is our intention to see you, or your child, as quickly as possible for an appointment, as long as it’s done in a safe manner. Initially, we will not be able to see the same number of patients as we usually do in order to follow social distancing within the practice. To allow us to see all patients as soon as possible, we are increasing our clinical hours to maximum capacity and will be adding appointments during non-traditional hours, including Saturdays.
• Please be patient as we contact patients in the order of most-overdue. Our scheduling team is working hard to proactively reschedule hundreds of missed appointments. However, as a failsafe, if you have not heard from our office by May 11^th, please call or email us.
• Some appointments may qualify for virtual appointments. If your visit can be accommodated virtually, this option may be presented to you. If you would prefer that your next visit be done virtually, you may let us know with an email or text message.
• Let us know about broken braces or appliances when we call. Check for loose or broken braces or other appliances, and let us know when scheduling your next visit so your appointment can include a repair.

The Day of Your Visit

• When you arrive, please stay in your car and call or text us at 352-383-6166
• A concierge will meet you at your car to complete a required COVID-19 screening, including a check of your temperature using a touchless thermometer
  • If you have a temperature > 100 or other COVID-19 symptoms, we will kindly request that your appointment be rescheduled
• Please bring your mask or other face covering with you as you arrive, just as you would wear a mask to any public space. We will have you remove it during your appointment. A cloth mask or bandanna is acceptable.
• Whenever possible, we ask that patients enter the clinical building alone in order to reduce the number of people in the building and allow us to maintain social distancing guidelines
  • Non-patient guests, including parents, siblings, and other companions, are encouraged to wait in their cars or outdoors adjacent to our entrance while patients enter the clinical building
  • If desired, children may be accompanied inside by one parent only

New Patient Consultation Visits

• New patient consultations are being offered in two formats for your convenience: in-office consultations and virtual consultations
• In-office consultations are held in private consultation rooms. Due to the nature of the consultation, a parent is encouraged to accompany their child to the private consultation room.
• Virtual consultations are accomplished by combining a fast and convenient office visit for clinical records, followed by a consultation with our treatment coordinator over GoToMeeting once you are comfortable at home. The clinical records appointment is normally 30 minutes or less, and allows us to capture state-of-the-art photographs and 3-D scans that allow Dr. Escott to provide the best treatment plan. After clinical records are acquired, starting treatment from home over GoToMeeting is a breeze!

At Escott Orthodontics, we are striving to protect our patient family while providing the uncompromised service and orthodontic treatment that all of our patients deserve.

If you have any concerns, we certainly understand and are available to help. We are available to call or text at 352-383-6166, or by email at office@escottortho.com

We understand this has been a challenging time for our community. The team at Escott Orthodontics is ready to help and we will do our best to minimize any inconveniences that may occur to the best of our ability.

We are so excited to see our patients and friends again soon!

Sincerely,
Dr. Escott and team