By Jennifer Garvin


The ADA is asking the Small Business Administration for additional assistance for dentists and dental practices to help ease the economic distress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an April 8 letter to Isabella Guzman, the newly-confirmed administrator of the Small Business Administration, ADA President Daniel J. Klemmedson, D.D.S., M.D., and Executive Director Kathleen T. O’Loughlin, D.M.D., noted that the majority of dental practices are small businesses and said dentists are often small business leaders in their communities and employers. They added that at the beginning of the pandemic, dentists closed their offices for all but urgent and emergency procedures.

After offices reopened, the COVID-19 relief bills — especially the Economic Injury Disaster Loan and Paycheck Protection Program — helped dentists to retain and rehire employees and make updates to their offices to keep everyone safe.

“While these programs were a much-needed lifeline for dental offices, more assistance is needed in order to help ease the economic distress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Drs. Klemmedson and O’Loughlin wrote.

To continue helping dentists during the pandemic, the ADA is asking the SBA to ensure that lenders are not requiring overly burdensome documentation to apply for second draw PPP loans and is also asking the agency to simplify the loan forgiveness process and make it more uniform across all banks.

The ADA also congratulated Ms. Guzman on her new position.

“Your experience as a small business entrepreneur, as well as your past work at the California Office of the Small Business Advocate and the Small Business Administration, will prove invaluable to the Biden Administration as it assists small businesses recovering from the extremely challenging effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Drs. Klemmedson and O’Loughlin wrote.

“The ADA looks forward to working with you, and would welcome the opportunity to meet with you or your staff on this and other issues important to the small business dental community. We would be glad to serve as a resource for you on small business-related topics,” the letter concluded.

Follow all of the ADA’s advocacy efforts at ADA.org/advocacy.