October is National Dental Hygiene Month — a time to acknowledge and thank dental hygienists and their colleagues who strive to brighten our smiles during this global pandemic.
Dental professionals along with other healthcare workers are at high risk of exposure to COVID-19 due to proximity to patients as well as to other workers. Dental practices were initially shut down for routine practice at the start of the pandemic. But today, many dental professionals have returned to work.
Based on an article in The New York Times and occupational information from O Net, dental hygienists face high exposure to disease and infection and physical proximity to other people. Although slightly less than hygienists, dental assistants and dentists also face high daily exposure and proximity.
Why are dental professionals at so much risk?
If you have had your teeth cleaned, you are familiar with the variety of instruments used in a dental office. These instruments create sprays of tiny droplets and aerosols containing not only water, but saliva, which could contain high levels of the virus in infected people. These particles can stay in the air for hours, be transmitted to others, and land on hard surfaces. Combine this with the fact that dental professionals are in close proximity to their patient’s face, and you can easily understand how this group faces particularly high risk.
“I can’t express enough how dangerous it is in a dental office right now, we have the ability to be asymptomatic and spread this to other people as much as we’re looking out for our own safety,” said Cindi Roddan, a dental hygienist, in a NBC Bay Area Investigation, “Everything that we do in dentistry creates aerosols. It is so dangerous.”
Coming together to fight COVID-19
Dental professionals along with all people who work in health care are invited to join the HERO Registry. HERO members share what it is like to work and live during the COVID-19 pandemic and have opportunities to participate in research to help protect and support all healthcare workers during this pandemic.
Join HERO today, share this flyer, and invite your colleagues to do the same.