10801 PACIFIC ST OMAHA, NE 68154
At Igel Orthodontics, we are committed to providing our patients and team a clean and safe environment.
Our immediate safety protocols upon re-opening after COVID, back in May, included installing acrylic barriers, adding more touchless technologies like hand sanitizing stations, disinfecting with electrostatic sprayers, taking temperatures on all who enter our office, offering virtual appointments to our patients, and so much more!
Our long-term safety solutions are even more impressive! Construction is currently underway at our office to enhance our safety protocols by replacing our existing furnaces and installing MERV 13 filters. Typical furnaces have MERV 8 filters. The most advanced HEPA filters are MERV 17; MERV 13 is a great balance between additional filtration and reduced static pressure drop over the higher-rated HEPA filters.
We are also adding to our airflow system to make the air we breathe in the office free of viruses including COVID-19, VOCs, dust, mold and bacteria. This will be accomplished using an auto-cleaning needlepoint bi-polar ionization system (NPBI). This product is installed within the furnace.
An NPBI system cleans the air inside our office by producing an electronic charge to the air that creates a plasma field that emits positive and negative ions into the air stream. As these ions flow through our air system, they attach to particles, gases and pathogens in the air. This process reduces harmful airborne particles.
Lastly, we are including UV technology within the furnaces. UV light destroys surface and airborne microorganisms within the air stream.
In summary, we will be capturing particles in higher-rated filters, killing any particles that are making it through the filter with the UV light, and inactivating particles within the air stream and/or in the space. Therefore we have multiple layers of protection at each point throughout the air stream.
And the best part, in our opinion, is that the process is completely safe and it saves energy!
These combined enhanced technology solutions are a win-win for our pledge to protect our health and environment! Traditional methods to freshen the air inside of buildings require more energy to exchange the air and you don’t get the added benefits of killing the pathogens.
We look forward to providing you with a more advanced, sophisticated and safe environment while in our care and are extremely excited about this new update to our office.
As our construction progresses, we’ll keep you updated. Meanwhile, stay safe!