Well, friends, we've made it. We're 100% in the clear, with absolutely nothing to worry about ever again. We're so glad you're here with us to see it.

Our last eight weeks have been beyond easy. Dr. Kev's five year old daughter cut down old-growth hardwoods in his yard, used a handmade bow and arrow to kill a deer, and took the wood and sinews to craft an orchestra-quality harp which she uses exclusively to play Stevie Wonder's "Superstition." Dr. Alex's five year old son noticed an apple falling from a tree, and independently described Newtonian physics in a four-volume treatise called "Quarantinus Physicae." We just laughed at him, because that's not even real Latin.

Not a single person has complained about being bored, about not being able to go to field day, about missing their friends, or about cancelling travel plans. We all look like people in one of those commercials for medicines called something like ENLIVENATE! (Yusklormimab, twice monthly injection), which treats a condition you don't have, where good-looking healthy people overcome their embarrassing skin problems to go salsa dancing. We promise all of the above is at LEAST zero percent true.

In an abrupt turn to alarming seriousness, here's how things are going to be different at CPD now that the NC State Board of Dental Examiners has allowed us to get back to taking care of your kids' teeth.

First of all, we were already well prepared just by the design of the office. At any one time, we can accommodate only three patients. One is in a room with a door that closes, the other two are in a huge open space where the individual chairs are over fifteen feet apart. As you may have noticed historically in our practice, when your family is being treated, you're likely to be the only people here.

We've been adhering to universal precautions since the very beginning.

Everything new we're doing is a synthesis of best practice guidelines from the usual suspects (American Dental Association, American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, Centers for Disease Control, etc.). This'll be a long list, but please stick with us. It's important.

- We want to limit the total number of people coming to a child's appointment. Ideally, you'll bring one parent and only the children who have appointments. If you have other children with you, we'll ask you to keep them with you in the car while the appointed children are seen.You can either come with your child to the treatment area or wait in your car during treatment.
- We will ask parents and patients to remain in their vehicles until 5 minutes before their appointment.
- We will ask anyone able to wear a mask while in the building to wear one. Please feel free to bring your own. It'll be way more stylish than the cloth masks we'll have.
- We'll ask some questions over the phone before your child's appointment. We'll ask them again when you show up to make sure there have been no changes.
- We'll have some hand sanitizer for you to use when you enter the building. Please use it.
- Someone will take the temperature of each member of your group when you arrive.
- Like our innocence, all the toys in the waiting room are gone.
- The clinical staff will look like they're coming from a moon landing. We'll be wearing faceshields, respirators, masks, surgical caps, jackets, and one random member of the team will be wearing brass knuckles, just in case that virus starts any trouble.
- Plan on it being a little chilly in the treatment room. Our new PPE is pretty warm, so we're lowering the room temperature to keep our staff comfortable.
- We'll be wiping down all the shared spaces all the time.
- Social distancing still matters, even in the dental office. Please keep a respectful six-foot distance from staff and any other families present.
- We ordered fancy HEPA air filters that turn over the air in our clinical areas every twelve minutes.
- Finally, as we're trying to complete clinical procedures as efficiently as possible, we may not be as chatty as usual. If you have a concern about your child's oral health that requires more discussion, we may suggest continuing the conversation via telephone.

It's a weird time, but that's not a problem. We're weird people. We are very grateful for all the patience you've already shown as we've started rescheduling patients. We were waiting until we had all the protective equipment we needed to keep our crew and yours as safe as possible while still getting your children's teeth taken care of.

Thanks for sticking with us.