The Washington Post (5/28, Janes) reported on the unique challenges dentists face as they reopen amid the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, the steps dentists are taking to help minimize the risk of virus transmission involves costs that may be hard for some, particularly new dentists who may have rental costs or student loan debt, according to Dr. Zachary Kouri, president-elect of the Iowa Dental Association. In addition, dentists are likely to be seeing fewer patients, which is “another issue for a dental office,” said Dr. Richard Nagy, president of the California Dental Association. “So we’re going to have to increase PPE costs and decrease patient volume, which affects how businesses can run for sure.” Dr. Douglas Robertson, president of the West Virginia Dental Association, said that dentists had “been able to see emergency patients, but it doesn’t really even cover the cost of keeping your staff and other office overhead expenses.”

In addition, the Minneapolis Star Tribune (5/30, Kennedy) reported that across Minnesota, dental offices “were able to start offering broader services again on May 11,” although a lack of PPE “remains a major limiting factor preventing dental offices across the state from returning to a full schedule of services.” Similarly, the Parkersburg (WV) News and Sentinel (6/1, Black) reports that dentists around West Virginia are “facing issues with reopening practices” due to challenges obtaining PPE.

The ADA Advisory Task Force on Dental Practice Recovery has released a hazard assessment guide and checklist, which complement the ADA’s Return to Work Interim Guidance Toolkit.