If you’re one of the many longtime patients of the McCarl Dental Group, you’re likely already familiar with our use of pre-rinses to reduce oral bacteria before we start dental treatments or preventive dentistry appointments. However, before the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, few of our patients knew that this rinse was doing more than just freshening their breath. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a lot of talk about the use of pre-rinses to combat the spread of this virus during dental treatments. It seems like there are just as many supporters of pre-rinsing as there are opponents, and we know that all the misinformation and conflicting data can be confusing for our patients. We want to make sure that our patients understand why we’re continuing to use pre-rinses and why we switched to a product that actually exceeds the pre-rinse recommendations of the American Dental Association (ADA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). We’ve taken some time to discuss the benefits of pre-rinses in this blog.
ADA & CDC Recommendations
The situation surrounding COVID-19 was declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020. The next day, Mary 12, 2020, the ADA and CDC released a statement recommending numerous changes in sterilization and safety protocols for dental offices, including recommending the use of pre-rinses containing at least 1% hydrogen peroxide. This leaves many patients asking the question, “Why does the hydrogen peroxide make a difference?” This is where the discussion gets a little complex. To put it simply, COVID-19 is a type of virus called an envelope virus. This type of virus, as the name implies, is surrounded by a plasma member envelope. These envelopes protect the virus and increase the chances that the virus will attach to the host (that’s you or me or anyone else). There are specific hygiene and cleaning products recommended by the ADA, CDC, and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to remove envelop viruses, and hydrogen peroxide is one of these products.
Our Pre-Rinse Product
McCarl Dental Group has always used pre-rinse solutions as part of treatment preparation protocols in our offices. These rinses remove surface level bacteria to decrease infection risk. After the COVID-19 pandemic recommendations were published by the ADA and CDC, we switched our pre-rinse to a product that contains 1.5% hydrogen peroxide, which exceeds their recommended minimums. We are also using personal protective equipment (PPE), H13 air purifiers, and other increased sanitation and sterilization measures.
Meet the McCarl Dental Group Team
We know that the situation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic is concerning and stressful, but we hope knowing the steps were’ taking to keep you safe will put your mind at ease. When you’re ready to come back to the office, you can rest assured we’re doing all that we can to keep you safe. If you have questions or want to schedule an appointment, don’t hesitate to give us a call.