I have two pieces of Pennsylvania dental news to share:

[PCIntern]

First is that the governor has now allowed us to wholly return for treatment of emergencies BUT WE MAY NOT AEROSOLIZE the procedure. That means: no ultra speed drill. That is like telling a carpenter to frame a house but don’t use a hammer for any reason at all whatsoever. Now, do you know, the handpiece is not only used for fillings or crowns: if you’re extracting a painful tooth and you need to divide it because, WELL BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO, you’re gonna need that handpiece. Chisel use is dangerous and most dentists practicing today were not trained to use them. No elective work permitted either: cleanings, restorations, crowns. You get the picture. I don’t know how I’m gonna do this but I will. Because I have to.

Second, a female dentist, Apparently a wife and mother, committed suicide. Yes, it is more common among dentists but this has sent shock waves through our community of dentists far and wide. I cannot begin to tell you the complexity of the effects this nightmare is going to have upon my profession but nothing will be the same. For example, there is no such thing anymore as a waiting room. So the nature of everything else In the profession is also going to be altered: much already has. This hiatus in practice has so disrupted individuals who are often compulsive and are used to rigidity in much of their lives. This threw uncertainty into the mix. For some people it’s the last straw. How tragic. By the way: in no way shape or form am I insinuating that dentists have more tragic existence than others. Far from it. What I’m saying is that often, problems are magnified because of the nature of those who enter the field. Suffice it to say that when I was teaching at Penn, the dean of students resigned because he just couldn’t deal with the volume of suicides and attempted suicides. I have a lot of awful stories better left untold.

I wish I had better news...

[gristy]

1. Oh, man. I'm sorry to hear this.

My heart goes out to you and your colleagues. Oh, the stress of the situation - I can understand that it is pushing some past the breaking point. Trying to make a living, trying to serve your patients, trying to stay alive. Oh, my gosh.

[monmouth4]

2. Sorry to hear this, quite sad. A little story may brighten your evening, a friend who works in our

local Publix, lost her implant, of course in the front of her mouth. Three-year old comes through her line with mother at the helm and asks my friend if she put her tooth under a pillow so the tooth fairy would find it and give her a reward. Mother of the child is dyin', embarrassed for my friend who thought it was a hoot. Fortunately she has to wear a mask most of the time and her dental appointment is far far off. You can't fool kids, they don't miss a trick.

[mchill]

3. I was getting a crown the day California shut down

I did not know we were shut down but happen to ask the dentist if I could be the first patient back if and when CA had a shut down to get the temporary replaced. He said “I can’t shut down or I couldn’t pay my bills.” Apparently he never shut down as his receptionist (still working in the office) called me to say my crown was back from the lab the following week. By that time I had read the CDA guidelines and knew he should only be doing emergencies and receptionists, if still employed, should be off site. As of last week he was still working and California still shut down for non-emergency dental work, at least as of last week. No one is monitoring this here!

This is a small town and I happen to know of a dental patient just off of 14 day quarantine from being around the son (also got sick) of the first COVID death in CA (before the new woman discovered in Santa Clara county) saw a dentist here that I might have gone to for that crown. It is not clear to me how a dentist can protect their patients and visa versa. I never felt safe during my root canal or crown.

My neighbor is a hygienist. Last I spoke to her she thought she would have to sell her house.

There are many dimensions to the dental story.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

4. Wow, incredibly enlightening. Are you suggesting that there is a

propensity for more rigid people to enter the dentistry profession? And CV is totally moving their cheese? And suicide is prevelant in the profession? That is a remarkable novel observation and extremely interesting.

Just a random personal anecdote, my best friend dropped out of dental school because she said that all everyone talked about was how you pay for your expensive equipment - tell everyone they need all their wisdom teeth out.

Sorry, digress. CV has SO many wide affects that we won't know for a long time. Thanks for sharing. Is there a dental association to lobby and remediate your worries?

[PCIntern]

6. TheAssociations are like the Trump administration.

I haven’t belong since 1982. They are in the pocket of the insurance companies and are incredibly corrupt at every level. One of the societies was covering up for a known child molester who was an orthodontist in southeastern Pennsylvania. He finally made national news when he was found guilty and then applied for disability as a mental patient. The judge threw it out on its merits.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

13. Wow... amazingly sad state of affairs we are living in. I went

to college in Western PA. Was it just because I was younger, and thought the world was perfect there and everywhere?

[LudwigPastorius]

5. Yes, I don't see how most procedures can be done safely unless...

the doctor and hygienists are in full PPE with an atmosphere-supplying respirator, and the procedures are done in a sealed negative pressure room.

My dentist's office is also reopening for appointments. I think that's a mistake.

Good luck to you and your colleagues.

[Alex4Martinez]

7. Sorry for this sad news. My childhood dentist killed himself.

I wish I could remember his name. He would give us plaster castings of animals, this I remember.

Ah, on edit, Doctor Bley.

[Politicub]

8. This sounds like it was a rule created by a politician who is not qualified to make

medical recommendations. Too many lawmakers are so full of themselves that they fool themselves into believing they know more than people who have dedicated their career to public health, dentistry or medicine.

[PCIntern]

9. Exactly....

Don’t get me wrong. I’m in four high risk groups and risking catastrophe for working. But if I’m there I have to be able to do my job

[Politicub]

10. I yield to the experts who have been trained in how to be sanitary and keep them and their patients

safe.

I have a teeth cleaning in June that was rescheduled from April. I'm normally nervous about anything having to do with my teeth, but I'm especially nervous in the age of Covid. Even though I am personally nervous, I place a lot of trust in my hygienist's experience and training.

[MontanaMama]

11. I'm sorry to hear all of this.

I worked as a treatment coordinator for a prosthodontics practice for 21 years until I left to work at my family business. I knew several dentists, oral surgeons and one orthodontist who took their own lives. It was devastating.

“No elective work permitted: cleanings”. No cleanings? What about periodontal maintenance? That’s shocking! That’s part of preventative health care. My goodness.

[PCIntern]

12. Well, you're in the Club.

You know the deal. Not great.

[Warpy]

14. Dentists and ENT docs are dealing with ground zero

when it comes to potentially infectious patients, so rapid assay testing that can be done in the office will be the ultimate life saver. Not being able to use the handpiece is insane, you're going to be stuck putting people on antibiotics until you either get a hazmat suit service to deliver new ones and clean old ones on a daily basis or a vaccine comes out. A lot of people out there will be living in agony, nothing hurts worse than a mouthful of bad teeth.

[Meowmee]

15. My dentist commit suicide a few years ago.

I didn’t know it was so prevalent in that field until my father told me they have the highest rate in the medical profession. Someone bought his practice and I kept going, they have moved offices soon after. They are still closed here. I was shocked, it was so tragic, he seemed ok. He had had some surgery and he was in pain apparently. He saved a child’s life in a car window accident in a parking lot several years before that as well and had bad injuries to his hands but he recovered and was still able to work.