10 Ways Your Dentist Is Looking After Your Health During the Pandemic

In January 2020, the World Health Organization officially announced that the Covid-19 pandemic was a public health emergency. That announcement changed every aspect of the healthcare industry, including dentistry. But, by May of 2020, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), working with the American Dental Association (ADA), issued guidelines that would allow dentists to treat patients safely.

While many patients chose to postpone elective procedures for a while, others needed fast help with dental emergencies. With that in mind, dentists implemented a series of safety procedures that protect both patients and staff from the Covid virus. Although millions of Americans are now vaccinated, dentists are still using these protocols until the CDC considers it safe to return to pre-pandemic routines.

1. Offices Have Been Rearranged

Whether patients find a new dentist or use the same practice they have gone to for years, they will be greeted by dental offices that look strangely empty. In 2020, the traditional orderly rows of chairs lining walls began being replaced with nearly bare reception areas containing only a few chairs.

Patients no longer wait while sitting side by side. Instead, dentists’ staff provide limited seating, and chairs that remain are placed six feet apart to accommodate social distancing.

2. There Are New Rules for Waiting

Seating arrangements aren’t the only things that have changed in dentists’ waiting rooms. Dental practices are limiting the number of people who are allowed to wait in reception areas. Most practices discourage visitors and permit only patients and their caregivers to remain in offices. That limits exposure to disease and makes social distancing easier.

It is also becoming common for dental offices to encourage patients to wait outside, in their cars, until they are called. Staff members typically call patients on their cell phones or send them texts when it is their turn.

3. Disinfectant Protocols Are in Place

Dental practices also disinfect their offices thoroughly and often, to protect patients and staff. Disinfecting offices and equipment are routine for dentists anyway, and practices include equipment that keeps tools germ-free. Like other healthcare providers, dentists create environments designed to prevent infection.

Since the pandemic, practices have ramped up their policies, and offices are disinfected more often. Surfaces are constantly cleaned and re-cleaned throughout the day.

4. All Patients Are Screened

Per CDC guidelines, many practices are now screening patients via teledentistry. Staff members can speak with patients to determine if they have Covid-19 symptoms. Dentists then triage patients and determine whether they need to be seen in the office. In some cases, dentists can use teledentistry as an alternative to in-office care.

5. Temperature Checks Are Routine

When patients have emergencies and must-visit dental offices, they are required to complete questionnaires that could reveal symptoms pointing to Covid-19. Patients are asked to submit to touch-free temperature checks, to determine whether they have an elevated temperature indicating the presence of infection. Offices also routinely check staff members’ temperatures to ensure they are well.

If there is even the slightest indication that staff could be sick, dentists have protocols in place. Employees are sent home for specified periods of time and must be tested to ensure they do not have Covid-19 or any other contagious disease.

6. Patients Must Wear Masks

In dental offices, as in every public place since the pandemic, cloth masks are mandatory. A recent National Geographic article stated that offices taking the CDC and ADA recommendations seriously could have as few as four chairs, one in each corner. Everyone, including patients and staff, is masked.

7. Hand Sanitizers Are Required

After masks, the second most common sight in dental offices is hand sanitizer. Patients never have to worry about leaving their hand sanitizers at home because practices place bottles all over offices. Specifically, patients are typically offered hand sanitizer at check-in and check-out. Most offices place them in bathrooms, too.

8. Staff Use Personal Protection Equipment

Perhaps the most visible sign that a dental office is adhering to CDC guidelines is the presence of PPE, the protective gear that staff wears. PPE can include face shields, N95 masks, gowns, lab jackets, and gloves.

Dentists wear masks and gloves even when there isn’t a pandemic to protect both staff and patients from disease transmission and infection. The use of protective gear became routine as early as the 1980s, during the AIDS/HIV epidemic.

9. Dentists Have Added Protective Procedures

Many dentists now include a pre-procedural rinse during patient procedures. The rinse is a mixture of diluted hydrogen peroxide or iodine that kills some microbes that can thrive in the throat and mouth. The idea is to reduce the amount of Covid aerosols generated during a visit. While there is no scientific evidence that rinses reduce Covid transmission, many professionals still consider them a worthwhile safeguard.

Dentists may also avoid using ultrasonic tools because they vibrate extremely fast. Unfortunately, the very fast vibrations are the perfect way to aerosolized viruses.

There are also practices using rubber dams. These devices are thin sheets of rubber designed to cover patient’s mouths, exposing only areas that need work. The devices block off saliva, which can minimize the chances of creating virus-laced splatter and aerosols. Rubber dams, however, can be difficult to fit, so they are not as widely used as some other safety measures.

10. When in Doubt, Staff Reschedules

Although dentists do everything possible to see patients who need emergency help, it is necessary to carefully screen patients to ensure they are not infectious. If a teledentistry call or standard phone call reveals that patients may be sick, dentists will reschedule the work.

The same thing applies to questionnaire answers and temperature checks. If a temperature reading at the office or information on a questionnaire leaves any doubt that a patient might be infectious, they are rescheduled to protect other patients and practice staff members.

The Covid-19 pandemic has made it necessary for dentists to change many procedures to protect their patients and staff. Alterations include outside waiting, fewer chairs in waiting areas, temperature checks, and rigorous disinfecting protocols. Some practices use pre-procedural rinses and rubber dams. Offices also protect staff and patients by re-scheduling any patient who may be sick.