Dearest Whitby Orthodontics Patients and Families,
On March 15, our regulatory college (Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario) and public health organizations advised that all non-essential and elective dental procedures, of which orthodontics is a part, be postponed indefinitely for the protection of the public. They will be reviewing this decision again in early April and our office will keep you informed of any developments. We will contact you with specific details of your rescheduled appointments once our regulatory college clears offices to reopen. At this time, only acute emergencies such as infections, bleeding and pain can be treated.
Delaying orthodontic visits will unlikely cause significant harm, as long as you are watching your diet, maintaining excellent oral hygiene standards and following the instructions which are summarized below. These instructions are for those under treatment using fixed braces, removable braces, Invisalign, retainers, or in interceptive treatment with an expander:
• If you have an expander or other device that requires you to activate it, STOP activating/turning the expander or appliance until we resume normally scheduled visits.
• If you are in fixed braces or Invisalign and are using elastics, MOVE TO WEARING ELASTICS ONLY AT NIGHTTIME until we resume normally scheduled visits. Once you run out of elastics, stop wearing them until we can re-assess you.
• Minimize sweetened beverages or foods and AVOID hard foods.
• Follow the instructions that we provided on your last visit, such as the pattern of wear of elastics (though moving to night time only), brushing your teeth, using aligners, etc.
• For those who finished their treatment and are wearing retainers, follow the instructions that we already provided in your last visit regarding the wear times of your retainers.
• If your bonded retainer breaks or becomes loose and you are less than 6 months out of treatment WEAR YOUR REMOVABLE RETAINER FULL TIME. If you are more than 6 months out of braces, make sure you are wearing your retainer EVERY NIGHT until we resume normally scheduled visits and we can repair the break.
• Some orthodontic emergencies can be dealt with by yourself. Please click here for emergency guidance from the Canadian Association of Orthodontists.
• If you have an emergency involving acute pain, swelling, infection or bleeding that requires our urgent intervention, please send us an email to emergency@whitbyorthodontics.com along with the name of the patient, telephone number and ideally a picture. Hold your lips apart and ask someone to take a picture of the region with the problem. We cannot repair broken brackets, retainers or wires, or replace missing retainers at this time.
• In the meantime, our advice is to avoid or minimize emergency visits until the virus spread slows down.
For ongoing care, we can assure you that every patient will finish with the healthy smile that was expected when treatment started. We only ask for your understanding with this delay as we attempt to navigate this challenge for the health of our patients, our staff and the community.
If you have additional questions please click the FAQ’s link here https://www.whitbyorthodontics.com/covid-faq/ for our temporary closure information.
Best wishes and stay safe,
Dr. Ron Sperber, Dr. David Simone and the Whitby Orthodontics Team