Covid-19 and Dentistry

It’s without a doubt that the Covid-19 Pandemic has affected everyone’s lives. Dentists and specialists alike have faced serious challenges during these past few months.

Fortunately, people have always been able to adapt to difficult situations. Many dentists today, only a few months after the surfacing of the virus, have been able to pivot their businesses to growth and success in light of these challenging times.

I began my search for my dream practice back in September 2019. At that time, I knew that business ownership had its risks, but I had the peace of mind that purchasing an existing practice would be more predictable than starting my own business.

Then, in the middle of my practice acquisition in March, the stay-at-home order was put in place. Just like everyone else, I was full of fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. This was my dream and I wanted it more than anything; but suddenly, the risks just got 10x bigger.

How long is this virus going to stay? Would it be safe? Would there be patients going to the dental office in the middle of a pandemic? Despite these thoughts of uncertainty, I decided to push through with the dental practice acquisition. I knew what I wanted to do, and that’s to become the best dentist that I could be and serve my community and their dental needs to the best of my abilities.

Now, I’m the new practice owner of an amazing dental practice in Plano, TX. After months of diligent research and hours of quarantine online continuing education, I feel confident that I can serve the people of Plano safely and effectively in the midst of Covid-19.

At BME Dental, we are exercising extreme caution in order to provide the highest standard of care to our patients and employees. For a full list of our Covid-19 Protocols, visit my dental practice website page at BMEDental.com.

Below are just some of the key changes we are implementing:

1. All patients and staff are required to wear masks during their entire visit and should only remove them right before we start their exam, cleaning or any dental treatment.
2. All patients are pre-screened prior to their appointment to make sure they haven’t had any symptoms or been in contact with any positive covid-19 patients. Temperature checks are performed right when they arrive for their appointment.
3. Only one patient is scheduled every 30-45 minutes. We switch operatory rooms for every patient, meaning each room will be unused for at least 30-45 minutes in between patients.
4. As we have always done prior to this crisis, we use CaviCide to thoroughly clean our dental operatory rooms after each patient.
5. We limit any aerosol-producing treatments and always have the high-speed power suctions on to minimize aerosols if we do any treatment involving the high-speed handpiece.
6. Myself and my dental assistant will be in full PPE including N95s, surgical masks, full body gowns, and face shields.

In light of everything, I feel very blessed to have such an amazing team of employees and loyal patients who remain 100% supportive and compliant of our new rules and regulations created by the pandemic. I would like to reassure those who are still feeling uncertain that going to your dentist is not high risk due to the high standards of precaution we take for ourselves and for our patients.

This pandemic may be here for a while and it’s important we adapt to it accordingly. When the AIDS/HIV crisis hit nearly three decades ago, similar levels of fear, anxiety and uncertainty invaded our society. But through that crisis, the CDC implemented stricter rules and regulations that made gloves and masks part of our gold standard for safety. I believe that with extreme caution and safety, BME Dental will be able to serve my patient’s oral health safely and effectively through this Covid-19 pandemic.