Ongoing COVID-19 Situation

November 3, 2021

Dear patients of Kildonan Crossing Dental Centre,

The ongoing COVID-19 situation in Manitoba is evolving day-to-day and we wish to update everyone on the status of our office closure. Currently, it is not known when public health officials will deem it safe for dental offices to resume regular appointments.

As such, if you have an appointment currently scheduled over the next several weeks, please consider that appointment to be postponed for the time being and our staff will be in touch with you to find an alternate appointment date once we can resume regular operation.

As directed by the Manitoba Dental Association (MDA): Only emergency treatment will continue at this time. Emergency treatment will be considered a significant infection, acute pain that is not relieved by medication, orofacial trauma or prolonged bleeding.

If you believe you have a dental emergency, please call our office for mandatory prescreening. We will be available by phone Monday to Friday 8:00am – 3:00pm. Patients who report to the office without notice or pre-screening will unfortunately be turned away.    

Please do not come to the office:

  • If you have travelled or have been in contact with anyone who had travelled (inside or outside of Canada)
  • Have been in close contact with a confirmed or probable case of COVID-19
  • Are experiencing flu-like symptoms such as: cough, fever, runny nose, sore throat, difficulty breathing, headache or weakness

We will continue with our infection control protocols for sanitizing the operatories and instruments. We thoroughly wipe down and disinfect all surfaces before and after each patient is seen. We will continue wearing gloves and masks, as well as practicing proper hand washing. We are also increasing the frequency of disinfecting public areas such as door handles, counters, tables and chairs.

If you think you or someone you know is affected with COVID-19, please call Health Links at 204-788-8200 or 1-888-315-9257.

If you would like to reach us with questions or concerns please email us at info@kcdental.ca or call our office at 204-663-6868 for more details. We will reply to you as soon as possible. We will continue to share information with you via email and our social media platforms.

Until we see you again, we have listed some answers to common dental concerns:

1) I have a painful tooth:

If you are able take over-the-counter pain medication such as Advil or Tylenol, use as directed to manage your symptoms.

If the pain is getting worse, please call our office for further instructions.

2) I have swelling:

  • Minor: If the swelling is minor and localized to the gums around the teeth try warm salt water rinses 2-3 times a day. Use pain management as described above if needed.
  • Major: If the swelling is major where there is a significant change in the shape in the gum area around a tooth or you experience facial swelling and or difficulty breathing, please call our office for further instructions.

Try salt water rinses; apply cold compresses to the facial swelling for 10 -15 mins at a time, take pain medication as needed.

3) I have bleeding:

  • Minor: If you have minor bleeding from the gums when you brush your teeth and it stops right away. Continue with your home-care routine, try warm salt water rinses and contact us when normal business hours resume.
  • Major: If there is major bleeding from a tooth; place some clean gauze to the area and apply pressure for 15 minutes. (Use a wet tea bag if no gauze available). If the bleeding does not stop, please call our office for further instructions.

4) I have Orofacial trauma:

If you have had an injury to your face, teeth, or gums including: a tooth knocked out, sports injuries etc.

With or without bleeding, please call our office for further instructions.

5) I have a broken tooth/lost filling/lost crown:

Try covering the sharp area with gauze, sugarless gum or wax.

Over the counter dental repair kits are available online. Please call our office for recommendations.

6) I have a broken denture/lost denture tooth:

If you can still wear the denture without pain continue to do so.

If the denture is painful leave the denture out or try to cover the sore area with wax or gum or try one of the denture cushions available at your local grocery store or pharmacy.

Do not use crazy glue to repair a broken denture.

7) Orthodontic Concerns:      

If you are currently wearing braces or Invisalign aligners and have issues with pain or discomfort, please call our office for further instructions.

We hope this information is helpful to get you through until our next office visit. We will try our best to help you, so please feel free to reach out to us with any questions or concerns.

It may be a challenging few weeks or months to come, but we will get through this together. We look forward to seeing you soon to share good conversation, a few laughs and continue on with your dental care. Look after yourselves and we will see you when we return.

Best wishes, & stay healthy.

Dr. Karen Lischka,

Dr. Bruce Bohunicky,

and the entire team at Kildonan Crossing Dental Centre