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Oct 25, 2023

What if Dentistry Was Disorganized?

This editorial from 1931, written at the front end of the Great Depression, gives us much to contemplate.1 After all, as members of the dental profession, we continue to have a public to serve emerging from the Covid-19 Pandemic. We are entrusted by society with the right to self-regulate.

Oct 25, 2023

Pain, Pills and New Perceptions

The beauty of dentistry and medicine, in general, is the ever-present evolution and growth of evidence-based practices guided by novel understanding. The advancement of knowledge allows our “practice” of the healing arts, to be refined continuously to better serve our patients and customize treatment modalities for maximized efficacy in rendering patient care.

CDC Updates COVID-19 Quarantine Guidelines

Dec 2, 2020

On December 2, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published updated quarantine guidance for those exposed to COVID-19. The Texas Department of State Health Services and Texas State Board of Dental Examiners both confirmed that Texas dentists should follow the most current guidance from the CDC on when to quarantine. This means that Texas dentists need to update their “Protocol if DHCP Suspects an Exposure to COVID-19” within each dental practice’s COVID-19 office procedures as required by the dental board’s COVID-19 emergency rule (22 Texas Administrative Code §108.7(16)). 

Instead of quarantining for 14 days after exposure, the new CDC guidance includes two additional options for those without symptoms following an exposure: (1) quarantine can end on day 10 without testing, and (2) quarantine can end of day 7 after receiving a negative COVID-19 test result. 

Following quarantine, DHCP should continue watching for symptoms until 14 days after exposure. If a DHCP has COVID-19 symptoms, they should not work, as stated in the dental board’s COVID-19 emergency rule.