CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The coronavirus is creating more than a toothache for dentists. Dentist offices around the Carolinas have been struggling to stay open, and obtain personal protective equipment. Some are now concerned about what it all means for your oral health.
"COVID-19 has certainly taken a significant hit to our practice," said Dr. Jessica Kirk, a Charlotte dentist at Pappert and Kirk Family Dentistry.
Their office, like many around the Carolinas, is only seeing emergency patients during the pandemic.
"Some of the preventative care and preventative treatment that we would do that is truly important, we put on hold for right now," she said.
Some dentist offices have closed, others have scaled back their services, too, along with their staff.
These days, seeing a patient in a dentist office requires additional personal protective equipment, or PPE, for dentists.
"That's our biggest concern at this point," Dr. Kirk said.
The North Carolina Dental Society asked dentists to turn in their PPE so hospitals could use it, Kirk said. Her office did that, wanting to help the medical field any way they could.
However, they are now struggling to find enough PPE for their own operation.
"Right now, it's running short," she said. "Even the masks that we generally order are either on back-order or limited supply."
She expects to get a shipment of PPE into her office within the next week or so. Thankfully, friends have stepped up and donated N-95 masks to her offices, and the local CLTgivePPE group has also helped her out.
Still, she has concerns as the industry slowly starts to open back up.
"If you don't have the equipment you need, whether it be gloves, or masks, or the face-shields. It's going to keep us from practicing," she added.
With patients unable to come in for preventative care, millions of Carolinians are could be impacted.
"The biggest impact will be the lack of preventative care," Dr. Kirk said. "Preventing a large cavity from becoming a root canal, and then a crown."
"For years we've been working on education and helping people understand why dentistry is so important," she said. "My fear is that this will have a health impact."
Dr. Kirk is constantly changing safety procedures during these pandemic times. Her office is using air purifiers to clean the air in every room in case someone has the virus and doesn't know it.
She said her office will soon be taking the temperature of every patient who comes in before they are seen.
"Dentistry has been working in aerosols for a long time. This is nothing new for us," Dr. Kirk said.
She noted the dental industry made lasting changes through the Tuberculosis and HIV discoveries, and she expects the same to come after COVID-19.
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