Our Office Tour

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Lobby Area

When you enter the office, you are greeted by the pleasant surroundings of our waiting room. To your right is the reception desk with our computerized check-in-system.

Sign In Area

The automated check-in system has a standard computer keyboard for your use. The computer screen is large and placed at eye level so it is easy to read.

When you arrive you simply type in the first three letters of your last name. The computerized check-in lets us know in the clinic that you are here and waiting. It also displays why you are here so that we can be prepared for your visit. With this system, we are able to check:

1. Our patients' appointment and arrival times so our patients don't have to wait.

2. How long our procedures are so we can plan our schedule to use the patient/office staff time efficiently.

3. Documentation of the patient's visit so our school-age patients can check in and out themselves. The documentation permits us to print out a school (or work) excuse that the children can turn in to the school.

Lobby Area

The waiting room was designed by Dr. Paquette to be roomy and light, taking advantage of the large windows. Note the individual seating. We have found that patients prefer this form of seating to the sofas and easy chairs we have had in the past. We have interesting magazines and books distributed throughout the office. Dr. Paquette constantly updates these books so that over the time period that you spend with us, you might find some of the books to be educational and interesting to you and your children. In addition to these materials, we have provided educational materials on orthodontics.

Refreshment Area

Along with cable television, Dr. Paquette has provided a refreshment area for your convenience with freshly brewed coffee and spring water as well as hot chocolate and hot seasonal drinks in the winter.

Internet Access

For patients and parents who need to stay in contact with others, we have a telephone and laptop computer with high-speed Internet access for your use conveniently located in the waiting area. A last word about the waiting room. Parents, you do not have to stay in the waiting room! If you want to come back with your child during visits, you are absolutely welcome and encouraged to come back to the clinic. We have seating available if you wish to see what is going on during treatment.

Consult Area

During your first visit and whenever you need to discuss something in private with Dr. Paquette or any of the team, we have two consultation rooms for your convenience.

This is part of our assurance to you that we will always have an area where sensitive discussions can take place without an audience.

Additional Seating

Just inside the arch way there is additional seating near the clinic area. This is where most of our younger patients and siblings wait since there is a second television playing popular children's programs or videos as well as two separate game stations, one for younger children and one for teenagers (or older!)

Brushing Area

We provide an area for our patients to brush, floss, and clean their teeth before their appointment. This area has been carefully designed so that used toothbrushes or material are simply dropped through openings in the counter-tops into the trash. The pre-pasted disposable toothbrushes eliminate sharing toothpaste tubes between patients. There is also a vanity provided for patients to check their appearance prior to leaving the office. This area is right beside our television/VCR/game station in the on-deck area close to the clinic.

Imaging Area

We have one area of the office specifically designed by Dr. Paquette for our imaging needs. The use of digital photographs and digital radio-graphs allows us to reduce radiation and make all our records instantly available anywhere in the office as well as transferable to your general dentist or another specialist instantly over the internet.

Open Bay Clinic

The clinic is an "open bay" concept. The open bay provides a warmer atmosphere and children are less afraid than in the traditional dental setting where they are escorted to an enclosure all by themselves. We have music, conversation, and fun. As part of our effort to keep each step of the way as clean as possible, each chair is covered with a seamless vinyl cover which is disinfected after each patient visit. The computer next to each chair is one part of our office-wide information management system. We can display your chart, radio-graphs (Xrays), photographs, treatment plan, and any piece of information that we feel we need at the time of you or your child's visit. In addition, this allows the assistants to make most appointments right at the chair so your questions can be directly answered by those most involved in providing care.

Sterilization Area

Dr. Paquette feels strongly about infection control. We use as many disposable items as possible. Items that are not disposable, such as dental instruments, are dry heat sterilized. Our system consists of individual trays for each patient. the sterilization process consists of ultra-sonic treatment for removing any debris which might be adhering to the instruments, followed by a water rinse, and then into the dry heat convection oven for sterilization.

In place is a sterilization monitoring system. To insure that the proper temperatures are maintained for the correct amount of time, spore strips are used and sent to an outside service (UNC) for evaluation as further insurance that we are indeed providing the cleanest environment possible.

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