Safety & Emergencies
We Put Safety First
Our team at Kalamazoo Orthodontics strives to maintain the highest level of safety for our patients and our staff. This has never been more evident in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Bowman reacted immediately and closed our office on March 16, 2020, and rather than wait, he dove in immediately on strategies and solutions to help mitigate this disease and ramp up our OSHA Standard Precautions. But we went beyond that, even past the recommendations of the CDC. This is especially evident in the dramatic changes in how we handle aerosol production and also the environmental air quality in the practice. As all of our practice changes were made, Dr. Bowman began collaborating with international authors (along with our consultant, Jackie Dorst, an expert on infection control), describing what steps were taken, in two articles published in the Journal of Orthodontics (to read, please see the links below). He also participated in published roundtable discussions and web interviews that culminated in a written description for all of our patients.
Orthodontic Emergencies
What is an orthodontic emergency? Typically, anything when significant pain is involved, such as a broken wire or an appliance that is severely poking or cutting gum tissue. We want to know about these situations quickly.
Other circumstances, like a broken brace or bracket, a lost alastic or steel ligature tie, needing more elastics, lost retainers, a missed appointment, are not after-hours emergencies. Often there are home care remedies for many situations as can be read in this link: