Dentists agree that it is important to make sure that you visit regularly. But making an in-person appointment during the pandemic could put your health at risk.
Dental offices are a place where droplets develop. So when the coronavirus pandemic first struck, offices across the United States closed. Now, with more personal protective equipment, temperature controls and very strict sanitation measures, patients can come back.
Periodontist Dr. Mark Cohen, MomentMD, says some still don’t feel comfortable coming back. “They don’t want to sit down and have their teeth cleaned because they’re afraid of catching the virus when someone touches them. “
To make sure people always receive adequate dental care, Sonya Dunbar of the American Mobile Dentistry Alliance says many practices have turned to teledentistry.
“They can do synchronized teledentistry where the patient can hold the camera in their mouth and the dentist can watch live at that time,” Dunbar said. “The offices were able to maybe send the dental hygienist to the patient’s home to do an exam with the dentist looking the other way.”
Delaying dental treatment can be risky for a patient’s health.
“A simple little filling could turn into something that requires root canal treatment,” said Dr. Andrew Brown, president of the Florida Dental Association. “The next step is a bad infection which could go systemically and certainly even tooth loss.”
Cohen says that even something like healthy gums can be linked to other illnesses. “Gum health is now linked to pancreatic cancer, lung disease, Alzheimer’s disease, low birth weight premature babies, stroke, heart attack and COVID,” he said .
But, if a patient has to come to the office, dentists want them to know it is completely safe to do so. “I can also tell you how safe it is to walk into the office,” Cohen said.
The Florida Dental Association says there have been no documented cases of coronavirus transmission resulting from a visit to the dentist.
