Adding on to our series of Covid-19 blog posts, ADA (the American Dental Association) published a new timeline of Covid-19's impact on dentistry. It's a pretty interesting graphic tool which helps in understanding all the important events related to the pandemic. From the first reported outbreak in the US on January 21st, 2020 to surpassing the 275MM mark for global vaccinations on March 4th, 2021, the tool hits important dates throughout the global dental impact of Covid. Some of the posts even include links where you can learn more about the specific incident. For instance, did you know that- according to the Journal of the American Dental Association- the Covid-19 rate amongst dentists (as of June 2020) was less than 1%? Talk about pretty good control rates!
Using this tool, ADA released realtime updates on how best to proceed with different dental procedures throughout the pandemic. ADA, without any set precedent for recent global pandemics, published valuable guidelines for dentists and their offices on how to reopen or stay open throughout the different waves of Covid-19. In addition, ADA also released a statement in August 2020 disagreeing with the WHO's recommendation that routine dental procedures could be delayed in specific situations as a result of Covid-19. The group cited the essential nature of dentistry in preventing, diagnosing and treating problems that could potentially become serious in the future. Other events include important initiatives ADA has taken to ensure the continued security and health of its member dentists. These include helping supply PPE to areas in the US which suffer from a lack of protective and hygienic equipment to combat Covid while providing valuable online resources for dentists and their teams. If you're interested in learning more about what these different resources are, click here for general access to the ADA website.
Recent news includes valuable information on vaccination events throughout the United States, an important part of ADA's efforts to educate the public on the benefits of mass vaccinations. Consumer confidence is also on the rise in 2021 as 88% of respondents reported that they had already been back or were ready to go to the dentist as of January 2021. Other positive news includes the virtual kickoff event for the Give Kids A Smile event, where ~1,000 programs have pledged their help in providing dental services to around 300,000 children in 2021. Small or large, these are key events and program which can only help us in combatting the ongoing effects of Covid-19. Click on the link below to access this great tool and learn more!