Ogden Newspapers Pictured is the outside of Johnson Family Dental in Marshall

MARSHALL — After spending the past couple of months in the waiting room, patients seeking dental care can finally get the treatment they need. But it won’t be your typical routine appointment.

Area dental practices opened back up last week after Gov. Tim Walz’s recent executive order that lifted the ban on elective surgeries, and dentists are happy to be back.

“We’re excited to be open after not really seeing anyone for the past two months,” Dr. Bart Johnson of Johnson Family Dental Care said.

Since closing in mid-March, dentists have only been able to perform emergency surgeries. Once the ban was lifted, some places were quick to reopen its doors. Johnson Family Dental Care opened back up last Monday while Dr. Andrew Frerich and Marshall Dental Excellence welcomed patients back on Tuesday.

“The first few weeks (of emergency surgery only) weren’t too bad but the last four weeks or so, it’s become evident how much of a need this is,” Frerich said.

Other practices like Smile Designers spent the first week training and preparing for the “new normal” before they open on Wednesday.

“We figured a return was coming, but we decided to use most of this week for training,” Dr. Erik Hill said.

Like every other health care industry, there are several precautionary measures being done in order to protect the patient as well as the provider. Johnson said certain protocols will be adhered to before the patient even steps foot into the office, including answering prescreening questions, getting temperatures checked and waiting outside in the car before they are called into the office for their appointment.

“When they are confirming their appointments, patients will be asked some prescreening questions to make sure they show no signs or symptoms of COVID-19. Also, patients will need to call us ahead of time when they arrive to the parking lot and are being asked to wait in their car until we tell them to come in,” Johnson said. “When they come to the door, we will be taking their temperature and ask some additional screening questions to document. In the treatment rooms, if patients are getting their teeth cleaned, we will have them rinse with peroxide mouthwash at the beginning of their appointment.”

Hill said at Smile Designers they even did a little rearranging in their office, moving furniture out of the lobby to limit patients from gathering in a group while waiting for their appointments.

Johnson, Frerich and Hill all said their businesses will be running at their normal hours, but will be operating at a limited capacity. All three dental practices are planning to first serve their patients who are in need of emergency surgery or those who had prior appointments canceled.

“We’re trying to prioritize the urgencies or the ones that if left untreated could be emergencies down the road and get those patients taken care of first,” Johnson said.

They added they are available for teeth cleanings and that patients are expected to see slightly longer appointments, with fewer patients seen at one time and more time in between appointments to allow for thorough cleaning of the environment.

While they’re excited to get into the office again, Frerich knows that some patients are on the fence about coming in for their appointments because of the ongoing pandemic.

“There’s definitely a mix of feelings; some are very excited because they’ve been waiting to get back in for an appointment and then there are people who are nervous and some who are in between,” Frerich said. “We are just being aware of that and have to be understanding with people and accompany the different perspectives.”

“The biggest thing is taking our patients and employees safety really seriously,” Frerich added. “It might be a different routine but we’re going to continue to provide the best and most quality care that we can and when patients are ready, they’ll come in.”