In an opinion piece in The Hill (10/18), Dr. Jonathan Fielding, M.D., a UCLA professor of Health Policy and Management, discusses the potential impact of delayed health care. While some dental patients are delaying care due to concerns about COVID-19 transmission, Dr. Fielding states that “dentists and the ADA have been a model of how to approach COVID-19 safety proactively,” pointing to the ADA’s guidance on measures to take to safely provide care during the pandemic.

To access the ADA’s Return to Work Interim Guidance Toolkit, which recommends measures to take to help protect patients, staff and dentists from COVID-19 as dental practices re-engage in providing the full range of oral health care, visit ADA.org/returntowork.

Information for the public on what to expect as dental offices reopen may be found on ADA’s consumer website MouthHealthy.org, and The Journal of the American Dental Association has a “For the Patient” page, Protecting You During Your Dental Visit. And the Patient Return Resource Center offers exclusive resources for ADA members to support dentists in communicating with patients about returning to the dentist.