Observations from our second week back?

The picture above shows me wearing one of the laundered but wrinkly gowns we just received. These can be used once and placed in our laundry basket after a single use. The laundry service is providing them at a cost of $2.00. They are a little hot to work in during summer months , but the cost is reasonable. We still have more expensive disposable gowns that we can done if desired. Of course the more inexpensive disposable gowns we ordered have been back ordered for over a month now!

This week dentists received some good news! The CDC has just revised its interim guidelines for dental offices and now it doesn't include waiting 15 minutes before disinfecting treatment rooms after patients finish their treatment.  This should allow dentists to schedule more patients each day as it will allow more frequent turnover of our operatories. The CDC commented that this change was OK since their have been no documented cases of people being infected with Covid 19 as a result of a visit to their dentist.

A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  seems to agree that visits to dentists are a relatively safe  and essential service. It concluded that:

"banks, general merchandise stores (e.g., Walmart), dentists, grocery stores, and colleges and universities should face relatively loose restrictions. Gyms, sporting goods stores, liquor and tobacco stores, bookstores, and cafes should face relatively tight restrictions"

We just finished our second week after our initial reopening of our NYC dental office. Most of our visits involved exams, dental cleanings or seating crowns ( that were returned from dental labs). I had a husband and wife who both had Zoom whitening sessions.  I even had a 94 year old patient (and family friend ) call to make her appointment for her three month cleaning ( she has moxie!) Her daughter will drive her to her appointment and wait downstairs.  It seems that even if people can't get  get appointments with their hair stylists, at least they can  experience some normalcy by visiting their dentist.

Even though we tried to escort our patients directly into the treatment room and avoided having them wait in our reception area, many of our patients were not in a hurry to leave. They  wanted to talk a little after or before their appointments. We had two waiting room chairs set up facing each other six feet apart and if they needed to "talk" I sat with my mask in one while they sat in the other with their mask on as well. These chats, while not encouraged by our NY State reopening guidelines, seemed appropriate since they made our patients happy and they kept their masks on the entire time.  After all, our boutique practice doesn't currently have a lot of patients coming and going that might run into each other. Since we have been scheduling an hour down time between appointments and many of us are starved for social interaction, it seems cruel to not engage in a little, especially since we are maintaining the 6 feet social distancing recommendation and all wearing masks.

The last 4 months have been trying for us all. and while some of my colleagues will certainly choose to retire, I personally look forward to continuing  for as long as I am able. My recent hiatus from practice was a pseudo rehearsal for retirement and I for one , am not ready to quit dentistry anytime soon.





from Ask Dr. Spindel - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/2020/06/observations-from-our-second-week-back.html - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/