Dentists across Pennsylvania are struggling to get their hands on personal protective equipment, materials that are required by the state to treat patients safely.
Paul Gleason is a dentist in Squirrel Hill and while keeping his practice clean and sterile is not a problem, it is difficult to get ahold of the necessary equipment to safely treat his patients.
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“The dilemma we have with this is that they are hard to acquire. We are competing against one another,” Gleason said.
The state now mandates dentists to wear gowns, face shields, N95 masks and protective footwear.
“I’m sure there are many dentists dragging their feet to open because they just have not been able to acquire them,” Gleason said.
Gleason said he has enough PPE for now, but it’s expensive, hard to come by and the state is not helping.
“At this point, the department of health has not warranted dentists to be on the safe level as hospitals and it’s hard for us to acquire those materials,” Gleason said.
The state has left it up to dentists to decide which patients they can see now, but lack of PPE could result in dentists turning away patients who need urgent care.
“For example, if these emergencies are not performed this could result in irreversible damages to the patient which would have long term consequences,” Gleason said.
Dentists without proper PPE are to refer patients to a different practice that does have sufficient PPE.
Channel 11’s Jillian Hartmann spoke with Jim Tauberg, the president of the Pennsylvania Dental Association. He said they are working hard and taking steps to make sure dentists have an adequate supply chain of PPE.
Gleason says the first step with dental patients is to do a phone interview along with a telemedicine interview. It will determine if a patient needs to come in for an emergency treatment or if it can be done at a later date.
Before a patient is treated, they will have their temperature checked and staff will take down a patient’s medical history. Patients will need to wash their hands and rinse their mouth at the dentist's office before receiving dental treatment.
Click here for the new dentist guidelines from state.
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