THE #DentalSAFETY is a grassroots movement started in the United States.
It emphasizes that dentists remain committed to providing excellent oral healthcare to their patients in a safe, infection controlled environment.
At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic continues, it is important to encourage confidence among the public that even long before the contagion started, safety and hygiene have always been at center stage of dental clinics.
When the coronavirus pandemic started to spread in our islands, the Philippine Dental Association has been quick to issue and update guidelines that ensure patient safety together with the safety of dentists and the dental team.
In fact, these guidelines have been updated to enumerate steps that Filipino dentists must take before reopening dental clinics after lockdowns are lifted or eased. We have written on these guidelines in our previous columns.
Here we mention the #DentalSAFETY movement in the United States to promote confidence among patients that a visit to the dental clinic is a safe visit.
For example, dentists are encouraged to create a simple video of the dentist in his or her clinic. The message – Please don’t let fear interfere with your necessary healthcare! As a dentist, we remain committed to providing all patients with excellent, oral healthcare in a safe, infection controlled environment.
The message emphasizes that dentists are experts that have been trained in infection control and dental clinics have implemented additional protocols to ensure not only patient safety, but the safety of the dental staff.
The video could be simple, easily uploaded on mobile phones. Captions should include the following hashtags: #DentalER, #DentalHEROES and #DentalSAFETY.
The movement encourages dentists to tag relevant dental groups, schools, professional associations and groups, fellow dentists and healthcare professionals and so on.
Dentists might cite quotes from reliable information sources such as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, such as, “To date in the United States, clusters of healthcare workers positive for COVID-19 have been identified in hospital settings and long-term care facilities, but no clusters have yet been reported in dental settings or personnel.”
Or from the British Dental Journal, such as, “Oral hygiene should be improved during a COVID-19 infection in order to reduce the bacterial load in the mouth and the risk of a bacterial superinfection. We recommend that poor oral hygiene be considered a risk to COVID-19 complications, particularly in patients predisposed to altered biofilms due to diabetes, hypertension or cardiovascular disease.”
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Dr. Joseph D. Lim is the former Associate Dean of the UE College of Dentistry, former Dean of the College of Dentistry, National University, past president and honorary fellow of the Asian Oral Implant Academy, and honorary fellow of the Japan College of Oral Implantologists. Honorary Life Member of Thai Association of Dental Implantology. For questions on dental health, e-mail jdlim2008@gmail.com or text 0917-859151./PN
