COVID-19 Resources for Dentists

Published On - May 13, 2020

Tera Clinic Management, COVID-19

[UPDATED February 4, 2021]

The number of new COVID-19 cases has been fluctuating, with new challenges posed by emerging COVID variants. The best way to prepare your office is to stay informed of the news and understand the guidelines provided by your province and governing board. 

Some procedures that are similar across boards include the following:

 

Patient Screening

It is strongly recommended that all patients should be screened for coronavirus. Patients should be systematically assessed before they book an appointment and at the time of check-in. Questions that should be asked include:

  • Do you have a confirmed case of COVID-19 or have been in close contact with someone with a confirmed case of COViD-19?
  • Do you have any symptoms that pertain to COVID-19, such as fever, chronic cough, shortness of breath and/or difficulty breathing?
  • Have you had close contact with anyone that has acute respiratory symptoms?
  • Have you travelled outside of Canada in the last 14-days?

For more details on symptoms to look out for, you can click here.

 

PPE and Sanitization

Dental health-care personnel should be wearing PPE at all times while they are in a dental setting. This includes wearing a surgical mask, full-face shield, eye protection, gloves and gown. More details can be found here. If surgical masks and full-face shields are unavailable, do no perform the dental procedure. Refer the patient to another clinic that has the correct PPE.

Offices must promptly clean and disinfect the room and equipment after each appointment in accordance with the Guidelines for Infection Control in Dental Health-Care Settings. Hand washing should also be frequent throughout the day to minimize the risk of contamination.

 

Social Distancing

With the recommended 6-feet distancing between one another, it may be a safer option to ask patients to wait in their car until everything is ready for their appointment. Your patients would also feel more comfortable with this option. You can easily alert them to come in by sending an SMS through My Contact Pro to ensure an efficient process.

Any changes to your check-in procedures can also be quickly communicated through a mass email sent from the Newsletter Module or SMS blast to ensure all patients are on the same page.

This is also a good time to go paperless, as it minimizes the risk of contamination through handling physical documents. The Paradigm module, iForms, will allow new patients to check-in and fill in a virtual document on a tablet, which can be easily sanitized after each use. 

To help you gear up for the reopening of your clinic, we have also gathered news articles and guidelines pertaining to different provinces. Please refer to your province for further details.

 

In the News

The most recent news on the coronavirus and Dental Clinics across Canada:

 

General COVID-19 Guidelines

These guidelines from the CDC and the Ministry of Health (ON) can be adapted to your practice: 

 

Ontario 

 

Alberta

 

British Columbia

 

Manitoba

 

New Brunswick

 

Newfoundland and Labrador

 

Northwest Territories & Nunavut

According to the NWT and NU Dental Association, COVID-19 correspondence has been emailed to all members. If you have not received an email please notify jzdebiak@nwtnudentalassociation.ca 

 

Nova Scotia

 

Prince Edward Island

 

Quebec

 

Saskatchewan

 

Yukon

Although this information is geared towards HCP, dentists in Yukon can adopt similar guidelines for their clinics.