Dentists now cleaning teeth again in addition to offices, equipment during pandemic

Area dentists have resumed providing routine care during the pandemic, but the number of patients they're seeing has been cut down.

Posted 11:23 p.m. May 11, 2020 — Updated 12:04 a.m. May 12, 2020

Leslie Moreno

, WRAL reporter

RALEIGH, N.C. — Area dentists have resumed providing routine care during the pandemic, but the number of patients they’re seeing has been cut down.

Dental officers were considered "essential" businesses under the statewide stay-at-home order and were allowed to remain open, the State Board of Dental Examiners left it up to individual dentists to determine when and how to provide routine and non-emergency care.

"We have recommended that dentists only perform emergency services, but the [American Dental Association] has come out with a toolkit for reopening, and basically, what that does is it heightens the standard of care for infection control and sterilization and those kind of issues with any kind of office," said Bobby White, chief executive of the State Board Of Dental Examiners.

Triangle Family Dentistry is among the offices getting back to cleaning teeth.

"We gave priority to people who are already on the schedule," founder Dr. Hesham Baky said. "We’re running at half capacity because we want to make sure we capture all the social distancing guidelines our staff feels safe with, all the added [protective gear]."

Before patients are allowed in, they’re screened over the phone and again at the front desk for any COVID-19 symptoms, such as fever or shortness of breath. Staff members wear masks at work at all times, everything is disinfected every 30 minutes, and patients are to stay 6 feet apart at all times.

"It’s the ADA and CDC recommendation, so we took their guidelines and said, 'What can we do better?' So, we went above and beyond to make sure everyone feels safe," Baky said.

Jessica Moore took her 10 -year-old son for his appointment Monday morning, but she admits that she was a bit hesitant at first.

“Upon arrival, everything they said they’ve been following through with, and I feel much more comfortable,” Moore said.

Patients at Triangle Family Dentistry can expect to see a $10 surcharge for each visit to cover the extra expenses of protective gear for office staff during the pandemic.

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