Notice to all patients, family and friends

To our patients, friends, and family: We realize that the school and work closures are stressful on our community.   We are working to minimize risk of COVID-19 exposure to our patients and their family and friends.

If you or anyone you live with or are in contact with on a regular basis have significant underlying health conditions, you or your loved ones are at higher risk from COVID-19 and you should reschedule your orthodontic appointment.

The Mortality rate versus age is shown the the graph below.  These mortality rate reflect the higher incidence of co-morbidity in older populations.  Please consider your own health status and the health status of your loved one before deciding to keep your orthodontic appointment with us.

 

This chart shows the Mortality rate for different countries by age group. Please note the consistent trend of increasing rate with age when interpreting these data.

High risk individuals include:

Individuals over 60 years old, especially with underlying health issues or anyone with respiratory conditions.

Other health issues that indicate high risk status include:

Blood disorders (e.g., sickle cell disease or on blood thinners)
• Chronic kidney disease as defined by your doctor. Patient has been told
to avoid or reduce the dose of medications because kidney disease, or is
under treatment for kidney disease, including receiving dialysis
• Chronic liver disease as defined by your doctor. (e.g., cirrhosis, chronic
hepatitis) Patient has been told to avoid or reduce the dose of
medications because liver disease or is under treatment for liver
disease.
• Compromised immune system (immunosuppression) (e.g., seeing a
doctor for cancer and treatment such as chemotherapy or radiation,
received an organ or bone marrow transplant, taking high doses of
corticosteroids or other immunosuppressant medications, HIV or AIDS)
• Current or recent pregnancy in the last two weeks
• Endocrine disorders (e.g., diabetes mellitus)
• Metabolic disorders (such as inherited metabolic disorders and
mitochondrial disorders)
• Heart disease (such as congenital heart disease, congestive heart failure
and coronary artery disease)
• Lung disease including asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease (chronic bronchitis or emphysema) or other chronic conditions
associated with impaired lung function or that require home oxygen
• Neurological and neurologic and neurodevelopment
conditions [including disorders of the brain, spinal cord, peripheral
nerve, and muscle such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy (seizure disorders),
stroke, intellectual disability, moderate to severe developmental delay,
muscular dystrophy, or spinal cord injury].

If you are in a high risk or have high risk family members who are high risk and you have an orthodontic emergency, I will see you on a “one on one” basis to keep you comfortable and at the same time minimize risk of transmission.

It is likely that you will be contacted by our office to either move your appointment time or rescheduled to another day altogether.  We are doing this to minimize transmission risk for our patients.  We have opened additional days and times to see a smaller volume of patients and in some cases on a one to one basis.

Thanks in advance for your understanding and stay healthy….

 

 

Drs. Chris Riolo and Burcu Bayirli