The Grinch down in WHOville has decided that dentistry is not something we should be doing.
According to a recent World Health Organization (WHO) statement: “Urgent or emergency oral health interventions that are vital for preserving a person’s oral functioning, managing severe pain, or securing quality of life should be provided.”
But what about the patient who presented for a routine dental visit with a blood pressure of 215/110? Or the patient with a potentially life-threatening abscess under her neck?
So, what WHO is telling me is that the two patients I saw two weeks ago via routine care don’t fall into the category of “... oral health interventions that are vital for preserving a person’s oral functioning, managing severe pain, or securing quality of life.”
A lack of pain doesn’t mean anything is wrong, right? Wrong! Dentistry is necessary, and routine dental assessments can absolutely impact a patient’s quality of life.
What have you been experiencing in your practice?
In this video and on the DentistryIQ.com Facebook page, we’ll be talking about the issues dental professionals are facing in their practices due to the effects of COVID-19.
Related reading: World Health Organization advises delaying of nonessential dental care in areas of COVID-19 community transmission
Editor’s note: This video first appeared in Through the Loupes newsletter, a publication of the Endeavor Business Media Dental Group. Read more articles at this link and subscribe here.
Stacey L. Gividen, DDS, a graduate of Marquette University School of Dentistry, is in private practice in Hamilton, Montana. She is a guest lecturer at the University of Montana in the Anatomy and Physiology Department. Dr. Gividen is the editorial co-director of Through the Loupes and a contributing author for DentistryIQ, Perio-Implant Advisory, and Dental Economics. She serves on the Dental Economics editorial advisory board. You may contact her at [email protected].
