Edinburgh Family Dentistry is open for business and ready to continue its friendly, personalized, hometown service to patients.  Though the last four months have been challenging, the commitment of Drs. Josh Curling, Jerel Gutierrez, and Caleb Conrad to their patients has been unwavering.
 

"After being away from work for eight weeks, it was easy to get complacent at home," Caleb confesses. "But after only two days of being back at work, I realized that I had missed the people that I worked with and the people I worked for, my patients.  I realized that I don't know who I'd be if I didn't do this job," he adds with heartfelt warmth.
Since stay-at-home orders were eased in June, Caleb and his colleagues were eager to get back to attending the oral health of their patients. The schedule at the practice has been getting fuller as patients return. The strict health safety measures they already had in place have been beefed up to ensure patient safety.

Dental offices have been at the forefront of trying to prevent the spreading of contagious diseases through proactive protective measures since the AIDS epidemic in the 80s and 90s. 

"We already had health precautions in place," Jerel explains.  "We wore surgical masks, gloves, goggles, used state-of-the-art tool sterilization, and sanitized rooms between patients.  So we were already implementing safety protocol to minimize exposure to diseases.  It's just been stepped up to the next level with added precautions."

The trio of dentists assures their loyal patients that they have put every possible safeguard in place to keep patients as safe and healthy as possible.  "We're following all CDC, American Dental Association, and Virginia Department of Health guidelines for safety," Josh stresses. 

"We now wear N95 masks instead of surgical masks, check temperatures of all staff members when they arrive at work, and keep people out of the waiting room to ensure social distancing.  When patients arrive, they call or text from their cars, we check their temperatures outside and bring them directly to the treatment room to minimize contact with others."  Patients must also fill out an electronic screening form before their visit, stating that they haven't had any symptoms of, or exposure to, COVID.

Probably the most impressive and little-known addition to the office's safety protocols is their new air sterilization methods.  "Not only do we have individual HEPA air purifiers in every room," Josh explains, "but we've had a UV sterilizer installed on our entire HVAC system. This ensures that all air circulating through the system is sterilized. We're doing everything we possibly can to keep our patients safe.  They're very thankful that we're doing all we can to make it flow, make it work, and keep everybody safe."

With the degree of safety measures put into place and the level of thought and care put into these measures, one would think that Drs. Curling, Gutierrez, and Conrad were taking care of their family members. In a way, they are.  All three dentists unequivocally agree that their patients are more than patients: they're like family.  Josh, Jerel, and Conrad all believe that the sense of family and community in their practice stems from one common denominator: they all live in the community they serve.

"I think the best way to describe our practice is that it has that "hometown feeling,'" Josh relates.  "People like to buy their produce locally. By coming to us, they're doing the same thing when it comes to their oral health!" he laughs "Seriously, though, I believe being locally owned and operated gives a dental office a different feel.  We're all from here, we all live here, and we're part of our patients' community."

Both Josh and Jerel are Chesapeake natives, born and raised, and were best friends throughout much of their middle and high school years.  "Josh and I grew up here together.  We both went to school here, and our parents grew up here, so we have a lot of local ties. In fact, a lot of our patients were our friends, classmates, and teachers back in the day.  If we worked in any other area, we wouldn't be able to run into these familiar faces in our daily lives. That's the part of our practice that is so great," Jerel shares.

"I run into patients all the time in restaurants and at the grocery and the hardware stores," Josh interjects. "It's great to see them out in the community and to wave or talk. That type of interaction outside the office fosters a feeling of being part of the community with patients.  It allows all of us to make that connection with patients."

With their newborn baby girl, Colby, Caleb and his wife decided to move closer to the office for a shorter commute.  For Caleb, the hometown feeling of the practice takes on a whole new meaning with his new neighborhood.  "We relocated to be closer to the office, and now we're living in Moyock," he begins.  "I love the area because I grew up in a small town in Ohio, and Moyock feels very similar.  Turns out, I live in a subdivision with many of my patients!  Now my patients aren't just my patients; they're also my neighbors. I really believe the reason our practice is successful is that we treat our patients more like friends.  That's absolutely the key that sets us apart."

Not ones to take the spotlight, all three dentists agree that the success and hometown feel of their practice doesn't rest solely on their shoulders.  "This is a total team effort," Caleb stresses.  "Our staff, both clinical and non-clinical, are tremendously kind, competent, and compassionate people. There's not one of them that doesn't make the patient look and feel good with the contributions that they make.  We couldn't do it without them!"

Over the last four months, the world has unexpectedly and drastically changed in ways that boggle the mind. But one thing that has remained the same: the dedicated care of Drs. Curling, Gutierrez, and Conrad, and the relaxed hometown feeling found at Edinburgh Family Dentistry.