Every day the news shares warnings about the rise in COVID-19 and the possibility of shutting down the much of the country again. Earlier this year, we witnessed something we haven’t seen in our lifetime—a pandemic that swept the country and all but paralyzed us. The fear of the unknown held us captive for weeks. Months passed before we could return to work, and it didn’t look anything like the workplaces we’d known before. Wearing heavy masks and face shields, taking patients’ temperatures, and the threat of contracting COVID-19 became our new daily rituals.
Summer came and went, and there was still no understanding of what to do or how to handle this new normal. The new normal changes like wind in the fall as the country’s leaders and experts change their directions regarding what we need to do. Keeping up with all of it is exhausting and challenging. Our country is suffering. People need each other, and many people suffer from not holding their loved ones, laughing together, hugging, or connecting.
The holidays are coming
Nothing is more exciting than the holidays. They bring fall leaves, cool temperatures, snow, and sweatshirts! It’s my favorite time of year. However, COVID-19 dominates the conversation. We’d like to be preparing for family, friends, and traditions, but we’re being told to forgo gatherings and keep to ourselves, something that goes against everything we’ve ever created our holiday traditions to be. It’s a sad time.
What happens next? That’s the question we keep asking as each day brings more news, and more experts weigh in on the virus. When dental offices shut down earlier this year, dentistry was deemed not essential, something most of us never understood. We preach the oral-systemic connection and importance of oral health, yet the gatekeepers to that connection were told we weren’t necessary, and we had to close. We were told we were at the highest risk to contract the virus, and therefore must shut down. As the second COVID-19 wave threatens to shut us down again, I believe things will look different.
Where dental practices really stand
Dental offices have all but been spared from the virus. There have been no cases of COVID-19 traced to a dental office. I believe that’s because our personal protective equipment and disinfectants work. When done properly and standard precautions are followed, in addition to aerosol-reducing devices, we can remain safe.
Halting treatment could be devastating for many of our patients. Decay travels fast in the young, the need to manage periodontal treatment in patients is great, and routine dental care uncovers problems every day. We need to be there for our patients.
Nobody knows when this will end. We all want what we had nine months ago—normal lives. As each day passes and the news keeps us on edge, it’s uncertain if our country will close again or if we will remain open, and what that will even look like.
Stay strong, do what you can for your family and patients, and take each day as it comes—with the best attitude and ingenuity that dental assistants are famous for. Remain proud that you are an essential health-care worker!
Tija Hunter, CDA, EFDA, CDIA, CDSO, CDSH, MADAA, is a member and current vice president of the American Dental Assistants Association (ADAA), where she holds the honor of Master. Tija is the editor of Dental Assisting Digest and contributes to Dental Economics magazine. She is the director of the Dental Careers Institute, a dental assisting and dental continuing education program, and an international speaker and a certified trainer in nitrous oxide in several states.
