PATIENT UPDATE - 13 MAY 2020

We would like to inform all patients and parents that our orthodontic practice is open and is operating under the relevant guidelines and restrictions (currently Level 4).

We are guided by the South African Dental Association (SADA), the South African Society of Orthodontics (SASO), and the Government, and are taking the precautions noted below for the safety of our staff and patients:

A Steri-mist Sanitation Booth has been erected outside our entrance. All patients and parents have their temperature screened with a touchless thermometer and are required to sanitise their hands and walk through the Sanitation booth before entering practice
Except when accompanying very young children, parents remain in their cars for the duration of the appointment
Everyone entering our practice is required to wear their own face mask at all times except when they are being worked on by a member of our team
Covid-19 consent forms are pre-signed by all patients/ parents / legal guardians to allow us to continue treatment
Systems are in place for all our admin and account department staff to be working remotely from home
Appointment scheduling and workflow adjustments ensure appropriate social distancing wherever possible
All clinical staff wear appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including protective hair covers, masks, gowns, and face shields and each cubicle and operator and their PPE is steri-misted with F10SC between patients
F10SC diluted 1/100 is effective against pathogens including SARS-CoV-2 and is safe for the skin, eyes, and inhalation and is not toxic or damaging in any way
Our team is adhering to strict sterilization protocols throughout the practice, including an overnight F10SC fogger in our surgery.
We will continue to conduct virtual appointments where appropriate so that we can monitor progress and manage the correct wear of elastics, oral hygiene issues and pre-screen for the correct next appointment

We will adjust our operating procedures according to the risk level (Level 1-5) as guided by SADA, SASO, and the Government.

The same procedures will be followed for Level 5, except that all appointments will be pre-screened with a Virtual Appointment, and actual appointments will only be scheduled for patients where we determine that there is an imminent risk of harm if no treatment is provided within 30 days.

Thank you for your continued support at this time.

PATIENT UPDATE - 16 APRIL 2020

As per SADA (South African Dental Association) guidelines, Hugo Orthodontics is only allowed to attend to emergency or urgent cases. Therefore all scheduled appointments will be pre-screened, and our clinical team will make a decision on how best to proceed.

If your appointment is deemed urgent, we will schedule you for an in-person appointment.

If prompted please upload your records (photos and videos), as instructed for the team to review.

Thank you for your continued patience at this time.

PATIENT UPDATE - 24 MARCH 2020

Further to our communication on 16 March 2020, and in light of the Presidential address which took place on 23 March 2020, please see an update on business protocol below:

All ‘Apply Braces’ and ‘Remove Braces’ Appointments scheduled between the government mandated period (26 March - 16 April), will be rescheduled. A member of our team will be in touch to confirm an alternative date and time.
‘Routine Check Up’ and ‘New Patient’ Appointments will still take place as Virtual Appointments, and do NOT need to be rescheduled. Please check your email for more information if this pertains to you.
Patients who require wax and/or elastics during the lockdown period can collect from the wendyhouse at the Floracliffe practice during office hours, OR you can order them online from Go Oral Care at no cost. Enter the code HUGOPATIENT when checking out. A delivery fee still applies, however you can get FREE delivery if you purchase other products on the online store for a total of R400*.

Go Oral Care

Only emergency cases will require the patient to come into the practice.
Please note we have installed glass panels between each chair in the surgery for additional hygiene safety.
Breakages will be conducted virtually before we schedule the patient to come into the practice to be attended to.

For any questions or queries, please review the contact details below to get in touch with a member of our team.

Thank you.

PATIENT COMMUNICATION - 16 MARCH 2020

Dear Patients,

We have been carefully monitoring CDC and WHO updates for the most current information and recommendations as to how to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

Hugo Orthodontics will continue to monitor this situation closely and are committed to adopting practices that offer the best protection for our patients and staff.

Please take note of the measures we have put in place, and protocol we are asking you to adhere to going forward:

Please use the hand sanitizer provided at our practice entrance, before entering the building.
Hand sanitizer is also provided at the reception desk. Please use this before and after touching any surface in our practice.
Do not shake hands, rather greet people with a warm Hugo smile.
Sneeze or cough with a closed hand into a tissue or elbow. Tissues are provided at our front door.
Our non-clinical team (reception, admin, and accounts) will not be on-site, however, all of our regular communication channels, including our telephone and email remain in place.

Telephone: 011 475 1320

Appointment queries: appointments@hugoorthodontics.com

All account queries must be directed to our team via email only at accounts@hugoorthodontics.com

Please make payments via our online payment portal or by EFT*, as there will be no admin staff on-site to process credit card payments. Hugo Orthodontics never takes cash payments, for your safety and ours.
We are working to expand our self-check-in functionality, so that patients can connect to our guest wifi and check-in using their device, thereby avoiding unnecessary touching of our tablets.
Please utilize our online booking system to make and manage your appointments, or phone reception at 011 475 1320.
We are working on a plan to conduct virtual appointments so as not to disrupt your treatment if you are unwell or unable to attend our practice.
If you have returned from high-risk countries in the last 14 days, or have been in close proximity to someone with a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19, or are displaying flu-like symptoms, or have been in contact with someone who has recently travelled, please cancel or reschedule your appointment at a later date, when you are well or tested negative for COVID-19.
Please maintain about a 2m distance between yourself and other people when moving around in our practice - except your clinical operator who will be wearing a mask and gloves.
Patients must please wait in their car until their appointment time to avoid unnecessary time in our practice.
Parents and other non-patients must please wait in their car.

We will be updating this page regularly with more information and additional resources, and encourage you to stay informed via this channel.

Thank you for helping us keep each other safe!

The Hugo Orthodontics Team

*Bank Details

Bank: FNB

Account Name: Hugo Orthodontics

Account Number: 62434940442

Branch: 261251