Dentistry, like many industries, is encountering unprecedented challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as dental practice owners, general staff, and patients are adapting to the new guidelines, various setbacks, and different expectations.
These changes and a host of others that could arise in the future are completely affecting the dental industry, from patient appointments to a practice’s dependence on supply companies for their equipment.
Dr. Xieng Khan Lee, a reputable dentist in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, who has been practicing for more than a decade, reviews the massive consequences that the COVID-19 outbreak has brought into dentistry as a whole.
Down, For Now
Months ago, dental office closures were prescribed by regulators and health authorities with the exception of emergency treatments. Although the sector’s drop in revenue was significant, Dr. Xieng Khan Lee stresses that the dental industry has a rare advantage that is not afforded to other businesses currently in financial peril. As many companies must accept a loss in revenue that likely cannot be recuperated, dental offices are experiencing more of a delay in receiving payments. A patient with decaying teeth will eventually need to schedule an appointment with their dentist, as will the person who has wisdom teeth that must be extracted. Although hygiene revenue will be reduced, along with the demand for elective procedures, overall, the dental industry is in a position to recover more comfortably than other businesses.
Patient Management
Dentists are utilizing all of the tools at their disposal, such as mailers, voice messages, social media, and website updates to notify patients about their office hours or closures. Also, patient screening protocols are now a part of the process, potentially a permanent feature even after restrictions are largely lifted. One protocol, developed by the American Association of Endodontists (AAE), outlines the following steps: an initial screening with the patient to determine their travel history and any possible symptoms of COVID-19; for patients electing to have elective care, the treatment is postponed for two weeks and in the aftermath, there is a thorough follow-up either through video conferencing or the telephone; urgent care, like swelling or acute pain, is treated by antibiotics and analgesics, followed by an identical check-in to that of the elective option; and emergency care necessitates dental treatment in a negative air pressure room or an air borne infection isolation room (AIIR).
Staff Situation
Most dental offices swiftly laid off their personnel once closures became a foregone conclusion, a development that placed staff in a precarious financial predicament, Dr. Xieng Khan Lee states. Plenty of employees have less breathing space in terms of their finances, particularly when their savings are suddenly asked to help withstand the pandemic period and unemployment insurance is merely a slight assistance because the majority of practice owners are themselves financially hit. More than anyone, dental staff members will be eager to see their practices get going on the backlog of patient appointments and commence the return of operations to a full capacity.
New Hires
Dental graduates are witnessing great uncertainty in the hiring process because of the COVID-19 crisis, Dr. Xieng Khan Lee notes. Any available vacancies in a dental practice are basically either an effort to replace an associate who is exiting the establishment or to serve the expansion of a corporate office. Replacement associates, and the timing of their inclusion, will likely be decided by patient responses after the pandemic and the volume of people that actually wish to come into the office. Expansion plans are somewhat complex to predict though, since practice owners and corporations are bound to have their actions dictated by how their financers react to the present reality. While some practices will expand as intended, others will be forced to put it off for the foreseeable future.
Dr. Xieng Khan Lee on Supply Companies
Previously, personal protective equipment (PPE) was mostly produced by huge suppliers in China, including gloves, gowns and face masks, in addition to cleaning, diagnostic, surgical, and wound care products. Such a dependence on one nation for supplies should almost definitely decrease, representing a profiting opportunity for manufacturers in North America. But that will create a separate issue for the local supply companies due to the overwhelming demand. Prestige Ameritech, a Texas-based company that manufactures masks, went from making 250,000 per day to now producing one million, a leap that has actually held them from accepting extra orders that are worth millions of dollars. Supply schedules are going to be disrupted in the months ahead and dentists will be frustrated by backorders on various products.
