Good Morning San Antonio (abc news) Live Coverage of Origins Dentistry

"Everything is different these days and DENTISTRY is no exception!" Dr Babak Najafi, Periodontist at Origins Dentistry said on Good Morning San Antonio (GMSA) Live at 9 am and abc news KSAT 12 in October 2020.

The KSAT 12 News Team reported on the new modern dental office at Northwest Side and their top tier technology including Negative Pressure Room. With over 10 years of experience, Dr Babak Najafi and Dr Parisa Kheirieh modified their brand new dental office design to incorporate a hospital grade facility in their private practice. Being experienced in general dentistry and their specialty fields, they designed their own private office with the help of the industry experts in Texas to ensure patients convenience and safety as well as their own team's.



As Max Massey reported in abc KSAT 12 news, Origins Specialty Dentistry is one of the few dental offices nationwide offering negative pressure room for dental services. "We were all concerned about the patient's safety, so we have implemented drastic changes in our practice following American Dental Association (ADA) and Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines. Here at Origins Dentistry, our patients safety has always been our top priority. Patients screening, specific infection control protocol, daily screening of our team, hand sanitizers, wearing masks, air ventilation, and more importantly, ensuring social distancing by seeing one patient at a time are some examples of our strict protocol during COVID-19 pandemic, to make sure that our patients and team members are safe," Dr Najafi, periodontist and implant surgeon at Origins Dentistry said.

In order to make their office "pandemic safe" - as much as possible - Dr Kheirieh and Dr Najafi have the gold standard equipment in airborne infectious diseases. Negative Pressure room aka Airborne Infection Isolation Rooms (AIIRs) is a single-patient room which essentially vacuums out germs and bacteria.



"We went above and beyond the guidelines by incorporating a negative pressure room inside our office which is technically a hospital grade facility," Dr Babak Najafi said. "With this pandemic, it is really important to make sure our dental procedures can be done safely knowing the concerns with aerosols and droplets, and patients do not delay their dental treatments, which can be dangerous at times."

It goes without saying how crucial some dental treatments are. Our mouth, teeth and gums as parts of our body are essential elements of our overall health. There is a growing evidence on significant correlation between teeth and gum infection and other systemic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, lung cancer, kidney disease, etc. The microbes present in oral cavity can move to other organs leading to other diseases. Delaying some dental treatments can be detrimental to your health. However, the question is: "Is it safe to go to dentist?". This controversial matter has made the dental professionals to address public concerns and adapt to the new norm. In addition to the long list of their COVID-19 safety protocol, the dentists at Origins Specialty Dentistry use their negative pressure room to make dentistry safer for all ages.


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"AIIRs are single-patient rooms at negative pressure relative to the other areas of the office," Dr Parisa Kheirieh, Prosthodontist at Origins Dentistry said on KSAT 12 live news report. "Certain dental procedures generate aerosols which is an invisible mist lingering for a while and may contain viruses and bacteria including coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). In order to prevent cross-contamination within our dental office, all dental procedures are being done in our surgical suite with negative pressure."


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Although this room may look like the rest of operatories, it has elaborated exhaust equipment inside the ceiling. "The negative pressure rooms in hospitals are designed to draw the air in and force it out through the ceiling in order to eliminate the risk of spreading diseases including Tuberculosis (TB) and COVID-19 to other rooms or the hospital's AC system," Dr Kheirieh continued. "Simply put, this room is sealed and entirely isolated from other parts of our office. I can see my patients and perform procedures inside this room and not worrying about other team members in the other rooms being affected. This will protect my patient from the other patients before or after them, even in the ones without symptoms. The entire room's air is being exhausted constantly; with a minimum of 12 air changes per hour."


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As Dr Kheirieh and Dr Najafi demonstrated using a tissue under the sealed door of their negative pressure room, clean air enters from one side of the room, flows across the patient's chair and exits through the powerful exhaust fan through the ceiling. No difference between cleaning, filling or a dental surgery, this constant air circulation exhaust the droplets and aerosols during the dental procedures.


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Origins Specialty Dentistry as a multi-specialty dental clinic at Northwest Side offering various dental services including general, fillings, cleaning, teeth whitening, periodontal (gum) treatment, dental surgeries, prosthodontics, implant dentistry, smile design, and esthetic dentistry. Like other local businesses, Origins Dentistry is committed to serving San Antonians in a safe and professional environment. As a family-owned dental office, Dr Kheirieh and Dr Najafi believe in patient-tailored dental care for families all across the city.


October 2020


KSAT Article on Origins Specialty Dentistry

https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2020/10/13/negative-pressure-room-at-northwest-side-dentistry-vacuums-germs-bacteria/


Origins Specialty Dentistry featured on abc news


5718 University Heights Blvd, Suite 201

San Antonio, TX 78249

Phone: (210) 460-0749

www.OriginsSpecialtyDentistry.com


Our Location

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Hours of Operation

Our Regular Schedule

Monday:

9:00 am-5:00 pm

Tuesday:

10:00 am-6:00 pm

Wednesday:

9:00 am-5:00 pm

Thursday:

10:00 am-6:00 pm

Friday:

9:00 am-5:00 pm

Saturday:

10:00 am-3:00 pm

(one Saturday a month)

Sunday:

Closed

Good Morning San Antonio on abc news KSAT 12 featuring Dr Kheirieh and Dr Najafi, Origins Specialty Dentistry