As we start to slowly recover and readjust to Covid-19, dentistry will look a whole lot different to how we see it now. In fact, everything ranging from the questions we're asked in the dental office to the protective clothes that dentists wear will all potentially change! As more and more dentists open up for elective procedures and treatments, we'll all be faced with new questions on how to interact with our dentists and our own personal hygiene.
The good news is that dental offices are already beginning to meet these new questions with simple, effective methods and procedures. Patients will be asked to wear masks while those accompanying patients will be asked to wait outside the office. Some dental offices will even be using a "four-handed" method where two clinicians will work on you at any given time. The idea here is that a faster procedure means less time spent at the office and less exposure for everyone! While this method isn't completely new, it'll still save us a lot of time and stress at the office - especially on some crowded days. Dental school clinics have also been outfitting their students with respirators and containment suits in an effort to lower any cross-contamination that may result from seeing multiple patients in one day.
HEPA air purifiers may also be introduced, seeing as they are excellent in filtering out some of the more questionable air particles using their fine mesh compositions. Rubber dams could be used as a physical barrier between patients and the dentists working around them. All in all , dentistry will be forced to adapt to an era where people are more aware of how even the smallest particles interact with their personal hygiene. What's true is that we could potentially see a greater mix of tele-dentistry with your day-to-day dental office visits. While we can't do our own cleanings, we could definitely benefit from a more constant stream of interaction with our dentists. This is where new monitoring and sensing products would come in. Just by entering an app, your dentist could help you monitor your real-time progress and help you understand any current questions you would have. All the from the comfort of your own home! The traditional dental office will always be a necessity but Covid-19 has at least pushed us to think of what new products and ideas could help mitigate increased stress over a visit to the office.
Here's the link to a related article from Slate.com for more information. Do you have any thoughts on the current impact of Covid-19 on dentistry or any new products or ideas you would like to see within a future dental office near you?
Let us know in the comments section below!