The World Health Organization has issued a new recommendation regarding dental offices, and it does not bode well for the dental profession this year.
Unless you are an urgent root canal, the WHO recommends that people stay away from dentists first, given the amount of risk associated with tooth cleaning for coronavirus transmission.
“[Dentists’] procedures include face-to-face communication and frequent exposure to saliva, blood, and other body fluids and the handling of sharp instruments, ”says the new guide. “Hence, they are at high risk of being infected with SARS-CoV-2 or passing the infection on to patients.”
The guidance further suggests that aerosol-generating procedures (AGPs), which involve cleanings with ultrasonic scalers and work with high-velocity as well as low-velocity, are particularly dangerous for virus spread.
Hence, all preventive care, controls, aesthetic procedures and cleanings should be postponed, says the WHO. “However, urgent or necessary interventions for oral health care that are essential for maintaining a person’s oral functioning, managing severe pain or ensuring liveability,” they say. However, anyone seeking urgent dental care should be screened in advance through a video call.
As Science Alert reports, WHO dental chief Benoit Varenne further advised that all treatments for progressive oral disease should be done with minimal use of AGPs, and he further raised concerns about the availability of dental protective equipment.
On the other side of this is Dr. Alan Gluskin DDS, president of the American Association of Endodontists, who told KCBS Radio this week that there is no reason to delay routine check-ups and cleanings, assuring everyone that dental offices are very clean – especially in the early morning. Also, anecdotally, we know that many dentists in San Francisco require rapid COVID testing or proof of COVID testing before seeing a patient.
“” You should notice when you visit your dentist that they wear gloves, that when the gloves are off, they wash their hands, they constantly drain, that there are very bad magazines, if any, now out, “he said Gluskin KCBS. ” And when you are in the chair, you need to feel comfortable that everyone is protecting themselves in meaningful ways for you, the patient. “
As Kaiser Health News reported two weeks ago, dentists’ employment in California fell by 60 percent between February and April, representing a loss of 85,000 jobs.
Much like other industries that have had to shut down or restrict operations, this seems to be another where health experts and those in the sector will fight for public opinion – with one side hoping to save lives, and the other hope to save jobs and existence.
Photo: Quang Tri Nguyen
