Dentists affected by coronavirus

how coronavirus affects dentists

Sherrod is in utica with the story.

All healthcare professionals have been drastically affected by the coronavirus.

And that includes dentists.

-- salina suy: in dentistry we generate a lot of aerosols when we work.

So our profession actually is one of the most at-risk professions during this crisis.

Really definitely put us at risk and were trying to mitigate the spread of it.

-- in dentistry, aerosols are tiny particles or droplets derived from blood, saliva, or plaque that can remain in the air.

Which can put dentists and other patients at a high risk of contracting the virus.

-- on march 20, governor andrew cuomoconsitituted only emergency dental procedures as essential .

Zalatan dental on genesee street keeps a sign on their door to remind patients what qualifies as a dental emergency?

Salina suy: the most evident dental emergency is trauma.

So that's if you fall off your bike, break your teeth, something crazy happens.

You definitely want to call in for that.

For cases that swell up the patients whole face can pinch their air way these are true dental emergencies.

We have to make sure we're taking care of patients who need that care.

And what about patients that aren't experiencing sever symptoms. salina suy: now we're recommending that all non-urgent care be postponed.

For patients with mild pain, depending on how bad it is, go ahead and call your dentist.

It doesn't hurt to call.

That communication with your doctor is really important.

Right now in my office you let us know what's going on, just like this like facetime, i had two today.

Dr. suy anticipates that until dentists have access to rapid coronavirus tests regular check-ups may be delayed even longer once we get back to some normalcy because of the aerosols.

Here in utica i'm chelsea sherrod news channel2.

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