Bethel, Connecticut – The “Halloween Candy Buy Back” Benefits Children and Supports the Troops

One area dentist is redefining the phrase “put your money where your mouth is.”  This Halloween, trick-or-treaters can bring their excess candy to Stony Hill Dental Care and receive $1 per pound. Dr. Walter Kostrzewski has joined the movement to reduce sugar loaded holiday consumption and consequences by giving away dollars, toothbrushes and local favors and everyone is loving it.

“We are holding a fun event that offers a great option for families who are struggling with the thought of their kids eating excessive amounts of candy! Of course we also get a chance to remind kids that visiting your dentist twice a year and brushing daily are great preventative measures, says “Dr. K” from Stony Hill Dental Care of Bethel, Connecticut.  Kids can still have all of the fun of trick-or-treating, and now their piggy banks will benefit as well.  This practice has chosen to participate in a national event that is taking place all over the country. It’s called the Halloween Candy Buy Back and it’s been a lifesaver for parents who want to limit the amount of damage that can be done to their children’s teeth.

Global sugar consumption for kids increases by about 2% annually and currently sits at 50 million tons per year, which means parents need to be sure their kids teeth are being cared for more than ever.  Candy, as well as hurting children’s teeth, can lead to hyperactivity and weight gain.  In some cases, the wrong types of candy can also lead to broken and damaged teeth and braces. 

Candy will be collected at Stony Hill Dental, November 2nd the first Monday after Halloween from 3:30 to 6:00 p.m.  The candy will then be shipped to troops overseas with care packages and thank you notes.   Each child is eligible to receive $1 per pound up to ten (10) pounds for all unopened, uneaten candy. Plus, we will provide paper and writing utensils for anyone that would like to create a morale boosting letter for our service members.

“Dr. K” works hard to raise public awareness of the benefits of healthy eating and great dental hygiene.  Stony Hill Dental Care offers affordable and convenient dental care.  “Dr. K” is available to provide more information at 203-858-6418, or visit www.stonyhilldental.com.

Check out this NEW article and video to ease your mind.

 As the world begins to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, one question that I’m often asked is:

"Do you think it’s safe to go to the Dentist?”
My immediate answer is an overwhelming, “YES!”

Dental offices are one of the SAFEST places you can be. Dentistry is a profession of obsessive-compulsive cleaners.

Dental treatment rooms are cleaned with bactericidal and virucidal cleaners before & after each patient visit. 

We utilize barrier protection to prevent germs from spreading when we touch things. All instruments are heat sterilized and used only on you before they are sterilized again. In addition to utilizing many disposable products, we wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the safety of our patients.

Recently, you may have heard about aerosols and their potential danger, especially as it relates to COVID-19. Aerosols are a part of our daily lives. When you speak, cough, sneeze, laugh and breathe, you generate aerosols from your body into the surrounding environment. 

Our human bodies have a well-developed immune system to protect us from any potential dangers that we may be exposed to from aerosols. 

As it specifically relates to aerosols generated in a dental office, the American Dental Association (ADA) and our local Connecticut State Dental Association (CSDA) have been leaders in helping dental offices remain safe before, during and after the pandemic. With guidelines that have been developed through science and fact, this includes improved safety measures which were developed with both the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA). Dentistry was safe before the COVID-19 outbreak and it remains safe after. To date, there has not been one instance of a COVID-19 outbreak from a dental office, throughout the entire world.

As you know our office remained OPEN during the entire “Shelter in Place” Order,  seeing patients for urgent and emergency dental care. As asked by the CDC and ADA we remained open to keep the burden on the Hospital Emergency Rooms down, and we refrained from elective care during this time to conserve PPE.

Our patients who have been here, as well as our dental team members, felt safe the entire time. In fact, the patients who came in all felt extremely comfortable receiving care at our office.

Since the pandemic began, dental offices (including ours) have been taking additional safety measures to protect our patients and our team. 
These include:

• Social distancing
• COVID-19 screening before each patient visit including taking temperatures
• Limiting the number of people who are in the office at all times
• Sanitization of patient hands & devices
• Increased PPE for both patients and the dental team
• Limiting of aerosol generating procedures

Our office is even going above and beyond by utilization of both intraoral & extraoral aerosol removal devices and improving our air filtration with air purification devices & UV light sterilization.

These additional measures in addition to our regular infection control procedures make our office one of the safest places you can be.

WE WANT YOU TO ALWAYS FEEL COMFORTABLE & SAFE AT OUR OFFICE. In addition, we want our team members to feel safe in our work environment. 

As we begin performing routine dental care, you can be assured that our entire team has been in constant communication during the shutdown period, we have studied the latest information & research on how to best care for our patients, and we have implemented additional protocols to keep you, and us, safe during your visit.

There’s a lot of uncertainty when it comes to COVID-19. One thing you can be certain of is that going to the Dentist is, and always has been, safe.

We look forward to seeing you soon. ?

Connecticut has entered PHASE ONE reopening on May 20th.

Stony Hill Dental Care and Dental offices in Connecticut, are now open for elective restorative procedures, as per the CDC and the Connecticut Department of Health.
This phase ​will not include dental hygiene appointments​. We will continue to treat Urgent and Emergency patients and begin treating patients who had to either reschedule or postpone their restorative appointments due to the COVID-19 shutdown.

Our Second phase will be to reopen our Dental Hygiene Department, on June 15, 2020
Opening the office in stages allows us to keep the patient volume lower and follow our added safety protocols.

We have implemented additional protocols to keep you safe during your visit.

Safer-Lower Volume- Scheduling-and Screening

1. You will receive reminder calls, emails and text as usual. 
2. On the day of your appointment please arrive ​10 minutes early and please stay in your car​ as per our new COVID-19 pre-appointment screening process.
3. When you arrive at our office call us at ​203-744-0033 ​to begin our curbside check in process.
4. Once you have checked in, ​a team member will come out to your car​. They will begin by taking your temperature with a no-touch infrared thermometer. If your temperature is less than 100 degrees fahrenheit they will proceed with the COVID-19 pre-appointment patient screening.
5. Once this has been completed the team member will escort you inside directly to our hand washing and sanitizing station. We will ask that you wash your hands and sanitize your cell phone. ​Please be advised all patients are required to wear a mask or face covering upon entering and exiting the building.
6. Your clinical provider will then greet you and escort you directly to your ​personal treatment room​.
7. Our facility will be limited with our reception room unavailable at this time.
8. The coffee bar is closed, but we still have bottled water upon request.

1. Our team will be wearing full personal protective equipment (PPE) including facemask, gloves, gowns, goggles and face shields for everyone’s protection.
   
2. Only the appointed patient will be taken into the treatment room. If a child is being seen, a parent or guardian may accompany them after approved pre screening by the doctor.
3. Your dedicated treatment room will be sanitized and prepared with CDC approved disinfectants and we always use the most advanced autoclave sterilization systems for all of our handpieces and instruments.
4. A pre-procedural antimicrobial rinse will be provided for you to perform prior to the start of your appointment.
5. We have suspended all use of Cavitrons, which are ultrasonic dental hygiene scalers to eliminate any aerosols during your dental cleaning appointment.
6. We have installed Medify air purifiers to reduce aerosolizations and our HVAC system has ALWAYS had a UV Sterilization inline. 
7. We will be utilizing rubber dams to reduce saliva exposure
8. We will be utilizing a high velocity evacuation system for removing aerosols and saliva from the mouth.
9. For your protection, we have allowed for more time between appointments, that may mean fewer available appointment times.
   
   

There’s a lot of uncertainty when it comes to COVID-19. One thing you can be certain of is that going to the Dentist is, and always has been safe.

Thank you so much for your patience and understanding during this time. We appreciate your flexibility and feedback as we move forward together. We will continue to monitor guidance from the State of Connecticut, The CT Department of Health,  the CDC, and the ADA. We will make every effort to let you know if this planned phase schedule changes. As always, if you have any questions please give us a call. 

During this time, Stony Hill Dental Care is fully committed to keeping you informed and up-to-date regarding your safe care in our practice as the COVID-19 situation evolves. We recognize the uncertainty this global health issue is creating and the decisions we are making heavily rely on the guidance received from the CDC and the Connecticut Department of Health. We intend to protect the local Stony Hill  patient community.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommendations for dental office infection control. Dr. Kostrzewski and the team at Stony Hill Dental Care are always focused on your safety and work hard to prevent the spread of infection, which is why we have consistently practiced under the strict guidelines of “universal precautions” – assuming every patient is infected with the most aggressive disease possible – since our inception.

What does all of this mean on a day to day basis? Before you enter the examining room, all surfaces, such as the dental chair, dental light, drawer handles, keyboard, mouse and countertops, have been meticulously cleaned and disinfected. Even pens, pencils or other such items are disinfected between patients. We routinely drape chairs and other surfaces with plastic coverings, which are replaced after each patient.

Non-disposable items such as dental instruments are always cleaned and sterilized between patients and undergo a strict protocol, in sync with the rigid principles of universal precautions.  Disposable dental instruments and needles are never reused. Infection control precautions also require all dental staff involved in patient care to use appropriate protective equipment such as gloves, masks, gowns, and eyewear when needed. After each patient, disposable gloves and masks are thrown away. Before seeing the next patient, everyone in the treatment team washes their hands and puts on a new pair of gloves. If they plan to leave the treatment room for any reason, they remove their gloves and dispose of them immediately within the room.

1. All patients and visitors will be asked if they have traveled outside of the country since December 2019 or have been in contact with someone who has. If so, a more involved discussion will take place in an isolated area, as to their relative risk of hosting the virus.
   
   
2. Patients who are ill and experiencing flu-like symptoms, respiratory illness & a cough or fever will be required to postpone visits and elective dental procedure visits. Such patients will be encouraged to seek medical attention.
   
   
3. If a patient is experiencing a dental emergency, our Doctor will communicate with them over the phone to determine the nature of the emergency. If possible, they will be referred to a local medical facility. If, however, their need for in-office treatment is required and he feels capable of treating the emergency, our Doctor will make arrangements to see the patient during a time when other patients will not be present or affected in any way. Such patients will be provided Personal protective equipment (PPE) immediately upon arrival and placed in an isolated treatment room at once. PPE protocols for doctors and employees will be practiced traditionally & worn at all times, according to our policy of universal precautions.  All PPE worn by employees working with ill patients and PPE worn by patients who are ill will be carefully bagged and discarded in the biohazards waste receptacle, not in regular waste bins.
   
   
4. As a part of Stony Hill’s screening process, all patients will be screened by thermometer to detect early signs of viral infection. If a patient is experiencing fever or any other relative symptoms while here at the office, they are to be rescheduled for another time, at once.  Symptoms and recommendations will be recorded in the patient’s chart and the patient will be advised to seek medical attention immediately.
   
   
5. As an extra precaution, the office is continuously being disinfected throughout the day, and again will be disinfected at the end of each day. The closing employees will be responsible for, and are not limited to the following: spraying down reception room chairs with Lysol, wiping all access point door handles and all light switches, spraying/wiping down the bathroom and front desks, as well as the consultation room table and chairs.
   
   
6. Hand sanitizer will be placed at the front desk. Employees will encourage patients to use the hand sanitizer and/or encourage adequate hand hygiene practices. All staff will accelerate the frequency and duration of hand washing techniques. If any employee suspects a patient of having the COVID-19 virus, the CDC mandates that we report such suspicion to our State Health Department.
   
   
7. Please PATIENTS ONLY...ONLY Patients and (if necessary in the case of younger patients) one accompanying adult should enter the office.  Siblings, grandparents, friends etc. should remain outside in their vehicles.
   For patients that are having a procedure that requires you to have a driver, we ask that your driver remain in the vehicle until your procedure is complete. At that time our office will call your driver to have them come inside so that instructions may be reviewed with them.
   
   
8. Please arrive at the office at your scheduled time, not early, as we are limiting our reception and clinical area to one patient at a time.
   
   
9. When you arrive, remain in your vehicle and  call 203-744-0033 or TEXT our front desk at 203-744-2118. We will text or call you when your room is ready.
   
   
10. Environmental Cleaning & Disinfection Policy: Our policy and procedures have not changed due to the COVID-19. We have always used CDC and OSHA-mandated cleaning and disinfection protocols for all surfaces in our office and treatment rooms. We use a bactericidal, virucidal, fungicidal and tuberculocidal disinfectant recommended for dental operatories, hospital surgical rooms, anesthesia machines and respiratory therapy equipment.
    Universal Precaution Policy: Our policies and procedures regarding universal precautions have not changed. Universal precautions are an approach to infection control to treat all human blood and certain human bodily fluids as if they were known to be infectious for HIV, HBV and other bloodborne pathogens, (Bloodborne Pathogens Standard 29 CFR 1910.1030(b) These precautions include: *Hand Hygiene, *Barrier protection with personal protective equipment such as masks, gloves and eye protection, *Ultrasonic cleaning and sterilization of all non-disposable instruments.
    

We want to thank you for your understanding during this unprecedented time. Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call our office and we will be happy to discuss further.

If you or someone you are in close contact with have recently traveled to one of the countries with large outbreaks of COVID-19 (China, Italy, Iran, South Korea) or if you have been exposed to someone else who was diagnosed with COVID-19 or who was quarantined as a precaution, wait 14 days until you come to Stony Hill Dental Care to make sure you have not caught the coronavirus.

It’s important to know that the majority of people infected with the coronavirus experience flu-like symptoms and then recover. Most people do not develop serious respiratory complications.

Those most at risk of becoming seriously ill are elderly people and those with underlying medical conditions such as diabetes and kidney disease, among others. Children, thus far, have been largely unaffected.