When are you reopening?

In NYC our dental offices never officially closed. Instead we were advised that we should restrict our activities to true emergencies that involved pain or infections. Most of the patients who have called me with problems have been willing to wait for their treatment until our office officially is advised to perform non emergency treatment. I have offered patients of record the option of seeing a younger collegue who has continued treating emergencies two days a week at another dental office or an Oral Surgeon I know who has continued coming in to treat emergencies.

Meanwhile, I have been actively involved in getting ready to reopen, when I am advised that it is a responsible thing to do. The most difficult part is obtaining adequate PPE for my staff. Faceshields and N95 masks are hard to obtain. Also surgical gowns are slow coming. We do have plenty of our old front buttoning dipsoable gowns that are actually OK to use in the meantime. They are not terribly expensive and can actually be thrown away after using.

N95 masks have been difficult to obtain and even type 3 surgical masks have not been available from Schein, my normal dental supplier. I feel somewhat let down that they haven't stepped upto the plate for their dental customers. I certainly understand that PPE should go first to hospitals, but we have been closed for over two months in NYC and its getting close to the time that our offices will be allowed to reopen. That being the case, I can not reopen without protecting my staff by supplying them with adequate PPE.

This morning at 8 am I finally spoke to a helpful representative at Benco ( a Schein competator) that primarily supplies Dentists and they were able to activate my account so that I can order the needed supplies including Level 3 surgical masks. These are not as good as N95 masks but if my staff is wearing a face shield they are probably good enough. They are sending me 5 boxes which should be sufficient. In addition I believe we have procured twenty  n95 3m particle masks that have shipped from an outfit in Texas (Accumed).

We have a number of air purifiers that were highly rated by consumer reports that will be cleaning the air through out the office and disinfectant sprays and wipes that can be used to clean our treatment rooms between patients. I ordered an extra oral suction device ($2500) that is back ordered and I am unsure when that will actually be available.

 Me wearing a N95 respirator covered by type two
surgical mask and Chinese disposable face shield.

Yesterday I went in to assist my colleague who was willing to extract and bone graft one of my patients teeth and I tried out wearing my new battle gear. I most likely will have my office manager and my assistant come back soon to help finish getting the office set up to our new normal. We have to stow all of the supplies we normally have out for my assistant either in cabinets or outside my treatment room. All surfaces in the treatment rooms have to be clear to allow comprehensive disinfection between patients.

We will not officially be reopen for elective procedures ( cleanings, crowns and fillings) until Governor Cuomo says it is permitted. That being said, the number of new cases of Covid 19 seems to be down significantly most days and if the our local city government can help contain new cases in our economically disadvantaged  neighborhoods, we will be able to safely reopen without undue risk to my staff and my patients!

Governor Cuomo announced on May 31rst that dentists statewide could reopen on June 1. Our dental society had been vigorously campaigning for us to be allowed to reopen. His announcement came as a surprise to many nyc dentists and most were not quite ready. I plan on reopening my dental practice on June 15th. I will have my staff come in the week before for training and to implement all the changes we need before seeing our patients.