Hampton Dental Group 'Optimistic' For Future

On June 1, Governor Andrew Cuomo lifted a mandate that had shuttered all New York State dental offices since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic — and he did it with less than a day’s notice.

“We were prepared,” Dr. Gary Manowitz said of his team at Hampton Dental Group in Southampton, “and hit the ground running at 8 a.m. that morning.”

Since the required closure on March 16, 2020 — with exceptions for emergency procedures for dental pain or trauma — the practice used the down time to update its physical building, considering only a small percentage of its procedures deliver that type of care, anyway, Dr. Manowitz said. “Most trauma and pain are referred to specialists,” he explained.

In just a matter of months, Hampton Dental Group installed an upgraded HVAC system with the latest air purifiers built into the ductwork, as well as localized, portable, medical grade ULPA filtration in the waiting room and clinical areas, which cleans and purifies the air six times per hour.

The practice also instituted sanitizing technology, including UV-C lights and EPA-approved chemical disinfectants, upgraded personal protective equipment for staff and doctors, installed barriers, and enhanced its engineering and safety protocols, which met and exceeded Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Americans with Disabilities Act guidance.

In mid-April, Dr. Manowitz used funding from the Paycheck Protection Program to rehire staff, who worked remotely to collect patient email addresses for further communication and news.

“As you might imagine, our expenses — including payroll, rent, insurance, accounting and miscellaneous — continued to accrue without an end date for the governor’s closure mandate,” Dr. Manowitz said. “The uncertainty of the pandemic and indefinite closure of our office led us to cut any extraneous expenses, and for approximately one month we had to tentatively ask our staff, except for two employees, to file for unemployment benefits.”

With a full team and precautions in place, the dental office finally reopened by, first, triaging patients for emergencies, and to complete care that had screeched to a halt months prior.

The practice sent out a mass email to all of its patients announcing its reopening, and added a “Welcome Back” newsletter to its website, which details the new engineering controls and protocols for patient visits — including a remote door lock and camera/intercom system to control entry, after a COVID-19 screening process in an outside hallway.

“Everything we did to enhance the safety of our practice has been well received, continues to work well and, in fact, has provided not only our staff but our family of patients with a sense of security,” Dr. Manowitz said.

The practice, which also includes Dr. Brian Park, has largely retained its existing client base, as well as attracted a number of new patients, due to the influx of year-round residents who fled New York.

“We have a cautiously optimistic outlook for the future,” Dr. Manowitz said.