COVID-19 - Your health and safety are our top priority
5/20/2020 COVID-19 update:
Well, as many of you may be aware, the state has issued a new mandate that allows for dental offices to resume routine dental care. We are now open for routine and emergency dental procedures, including cleanings. With that said, it is important that you are understanding of some request the state is making of us.
Before you come to Peak Health Dentistry, we encourage you to check your temperature and call us if you have any concerns or doubts about whether you should come in.
We encourage you to wear a face covering, but we are not requiring it.
Everyone who comes into the office will be screened for COVID-19 and your temperature will be taken.
If your care includes a procedure that produces an aerosol (examples include deep cleaning, fillings, crowns and root canals) we will refer you to be tested 3-4 days prior to your appointment.
Please do not come in if you are ill with Fever, cough, sore throat, cold symptoms, shortness of breath, loss of smell or taste. Please reschedule your appointment until you are symptom free for 72 hours. If you are having a dental emergency and are sick please call to arrange a teledentistry visit with Dr. Mishler.
If you have come in close contact with someone who has had the above symptoms or a positive COVID-19 test, please reschedule your appointment so you can self-isolate for 14 days.
If you are considered high risk, per CDC guidelines, please consider delaying routine care. However, if you feel your care should not be postponed, please call us so we can find the ideal time for you to receive care.
We are grateful for your help in ensuring that our office remain a safe environment for all our patients. We are so grateful to be back at work and look forward to seeing your wonderful smiles!
Call to schedule your appointment at 907-337-0304.
-Dr. Mishler and Peak Health Staff
4/24/20 Update: COVID-19:
Dr. Ben Mishler and famiily
It’s hard to believe that it has been more than a month since we have been open, with the exception of emergencies! If your experience has been anything like mine you have ridden the roller coaster of emotions; worried, awestruck, having fun with this extra time, anxious to get back to work, confused about the future, confused about public policy, grateful for our elected representatives, dumbfounded by our elected representatives, nervous, hopeful, scared for our community and local businesses, confident that we will pull through, proud of our first responders, and so on… Most of all though, I have faith that the storm is always followed by the Light; that hardships courageously overcome result in a stronger people.
As the State and Muni begin to lessen the restrictions on business closures we are preparing to open and resume the excellent care you are accustomed to receiving at Peak Health Dentistry. This care will be different than you have experience in that we will be taking extra precautions to protect you and our work family. This, we hope, will offer both an increased assurance that you have never been more protected in our office you will be moving forward as we exceed regulatory standards. Some things you may notice different moving forward include, but are not limited to:
Increased barrier protection at the front desk
Stylish face coverings on our administrative assistants
Increased time between patients the minimize number of people in the office at one time.
Our reception area will be expanded to include your vehicle.
Fewer seats to sit in, in the reception area, in order to maintain our new personal bubbles.
Our clinical team may be less recognizable as, often, our eyes may be the only part of us you see with all our new safety apparel we’ll be donning.
Increased barriers used in the treatment rooms.
We will not seat patients in adjoining treatment rooms; ie. More than 6 feet between patients in treatment areas.
You may not be able to be accompanied unless necessary.
You will be asked to be tested within 48 hours prior to your appointment if possible. For COVID-19, in case you need the clarification.
You will be asked screening questions by phone every time before coming in for an appointment and will fill out a questionnaire before being seen. This will include taking your temperature.
You will get to wash your hands, or use our hand sanitizer, upon arrival.
We will be investing in technology to reduce aerosols during treatment.
What you won’t see: the disinfecting and sterilizing (which we have always done) and increased focus on non-clinical areas such as door handles, countertops, pens, clipboards, credit card processors, etc...
We know that this will feel different, and could come off as less personable. Please know we care about you and each other and that is why we are doing this. We want you to feel confident that we have done all we can to keep your families, our families and our community safe. We have missed you and very much look forward to seeing you soon!
-Dr. Mishler
3/23/20 Update: COVID-19
Due to the widespread effects of COVID-19, all dental offices are mandated to discontinue all elective and non-urgent care. As a result, our hours of operation are dramatically affected. Please know that we want to take care of our patients and will do our best to do so, safely and responsibly. With this being said please note the following:
If you are having a true medical emergency, please call 911 immediately.
If you have a dental emergency, defined as pain or suspected infection, please call our office at 907.337.0304.
We now offer limited evaluation via phone, FaceTime, Messenger, or Zoom. Please note that these visits will be billed similar to an office visit, and that we are limited to what we can diagnose and treat via technology.
We ask that if this is not an emergency, please leave us a message with your name, phone number and reason for your call. We will be checking our messages periodically throughout the week and will respond to you as soon as possible. If it is urgent you can reach Dr. Mishler by calling our emergency on-call line at 907.802.1391.
We appreciate you and look forward to a speedy resolution of this pandemic.
3/19/20 Update: PHD COVID-19
We have received a Mandate (6.1) from the DHSS of Alaska that all dental offices are not to perform any elective and non-essential dental procedures for 1 month. This is for two apparent reasons; 1) dentistry is categorized as very high risk in regards to COVID-19; and 2) there is currently a serious shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) and the state is requesting that we minimize our consumption of PPE so that it may be used by hospitals.
The only changes, at this time, this mandate will have on our previous protocols and schedule will be a longer disruption in services and we may have shorter business hours.
This will mean that it will be important that our patients are patient with us, as you may have to leave a message and wait for a response. Please feel free to use email also, Schedule@PeakHealthDentistry.com. Our voicemail will be checked at least once a day at noon and we will respond as soon as possible. If you feel you are having a true emergency, please call 911. If you are not sure and want to speak to Dr. Mishler (and we are not in the office), his cell number is on the office voicemail or you can email him directly at BenMishler@PeakHealthDentistry.com. Thank you for your understanding.
Dr. Mishler and Peak Health Staff
3/17/2020 Update: PHD COVID-19
In light of recent recommendations from both the American Dental Association and the Alaska Dental Society and the rapid progress of this pandemic, we will be limiting patient care to Urgent and Emergency care.
This includes primarily treating pain and infection (things that will keep you from feeling the need to go the ER). If you have other concerns that you feel you need addressed, please call us at (907) 337-0304 and we will address those concerns as best as we can on a case-by-case basis. Please note that our office hours will be modified; M-F 8am to 5pm. This schedule is effective 3/18/2020 and will likely continue for at least the next 2-3 weeks.
If you call and get our voicemail, please be patient as we will not be fully staffed. Leave a message and we will return your call as soon as we are able. If you feel it is a true emergency, call 911. Please note that we will take the same precautions as previously presented (see below) with some additional precautions:
Patients will be asked to rinse with 1% Hydrogen Peroxide prior to any exam or treatment.
Patients will be screened about recent illnesses and may be referred to be tested if you show signs or symptoms of COVID-19
Patients will be screened about recent travel, and may be asked to self-quarantine if you have recently traveled from a high-risk area.
We will limit treatment to one patient in the office for treatment at a time with adequate time between patients to thoroughly disinfect and sterilize. This will allow abundant social distancing.
Any interactions that cannot conform to current standards social distancing by dental staff will be observed with universal precautions as outlined by CDC.
No staff will be permitted to work if they have any signs or symptoms of illness. This may cause us to close completely if there are not adequate healthy staff.
Please know that this decision was not made lightly and we weighed out the risks versus benefits of this decision and feel that this is in the best interest of your health and ours and that of our community. We will post updates on our FB page and website as new information or decision come to light.
-Dr. Mishler and Peak Health Staff
3/13/2020 Update: PHD COVID-19
We hope this finds you healthy and happy. With all the rapid changes and escalation of state and national precautions regarding the Novel Coronavirus, we felt it prudent to reach out and reassure you that we are also following the situation. We would like to make sure you know that as of today, Monday March 16th, we are moving forward taking care of our patients as usual with some added precaution and emphasizing established protocols for preventing the spread of this and any pathogen.
We have always follow established Infection Control protocols for the dental industry and are being extra thorough in our infection control, including with all door knobs, handles, keyboards and mouses,, countertops, etc…
We will provide masks for any Peak Health patient who feels the need to wear one while in the office, upon request.
All Peak Health employees who show any signs of fever, cough or sneezing or otherwise affected by a respiratory or flu illness are instructed to stay home until symptoms are resolved.
We are asking that any patient who is feeling ill, especially with symptoms of fever, cough or sneezing, please call and reschedule or cancel your appointment.
If you are an individual that is considered high-risk for COVID-19, as defined by the CDC (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/specific-groups/high-risk-complications.html), we encourage you to use good judgement and consider staying home and postponing elective treatment if possible until public health officials determine that it is safe to be more exposed.
If you have any questions at all, we encourage you to email Dr. Mishler at benmishler@peakhealthdentistry.com or call us at (907)337-0304
We genuinely care about our patients and our community and we hope this will all pass quickly and that each of our patients and their families stay safe and healthy.
Gratefully,
-Ben Mishler DDS and Peak Health Dentistry Staff