Washington State shuts down elective care

Started by FutureDent020
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FutureDent020

FutureDent020

Endodontist
15+ Year Member
Washington State has put forth a government mandate to shut down elective dental care until May 18th. Only procedures that could cause immediate harm within 3 months are allowed. That’s obviously going to be up to the dentist. But this is one of the first “mandates” sent out with a date this far out. We’ll see if other states follow suit. So obviously UW dental school is done for the rest of the year except maybe Endo and OS.
 
If I were a working dentist, I'd be working as much as I can. Not having a steady income for 2-3 months is going to hurt a lot of folks financially
 
BasicG said:
If I were a working dentist, I'd be working as much as I can. Not having a steady income for 2-3 months is going to hurt a lot of folks financially
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Only so much you can do once a government mandate comes through. At first it was just “recommendations”. Now it’s mandatory. And unless you’re doing work under the table which is risky, you’ll only be able to code for emergency procedures. That’s not going to keep a GP busy all day every day.
 
Too bad we can’t have the option to work from home.

Hang in there everyone. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.
 
So that means orthodontists can’t start treatment on new patients? Can patients currently on braces continue their appointments?
 
AONLINE said:
So that means orthodontists can’t start treatment on new patients? Can patients currently on braces continue their appointments?
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Two days ago the Corp I work for furloughed ALL the orthodontists and ortho staff till April 18th (tentative restart date). Yesterday I was told that ALL dentists (gps, perio, OMFS, etc) were furloughed except for a few GPs to take care of emergency non-elective dental procedures. I fully expected this decision. We will be partially compensated with PTO and Paid Sick Leave benefits 🙂.

Ortho tx is ELECTIVE. The country is short on medical supplies (masks, sanitizer, etc.etc.) It makes no sense for orthodontists to continue to see patients and use supplies that need to be used by those medical staff on the front lines.

Temp shut down is the right thing to do.
Imagine if you are a private practice ortho or DMO who chooses to see patients in this environment. If one of your patients, or staff becomes infected ...... the press will have a field day with your business. Not the kind of marketing a small business wants.

As for current patients in braces, aligners. No big deal. Most appts are 6 week intervals. Not alot of REAL ortho emergencies.

This will pass. Just need to help prevent further spread by practicing social distancing.
 
resiliens said:
So any news on what this means for D4s from those schools hoping to continue onto residency this summer??
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Mandate was put out yesterday. I’m sure they will meet today and so on to figure this out. It’s going to be a complicated decision. Remember, even though it may not see like it at times, these are people making the decisions behind closed doors at your dental school. In this situation, they are going to make a decision that benefits the school and you. Luckily, getting you out of there is a common goal and interest.
 
for students who are matriculating to dental school this upcoming summer/fall, will the start date be pushed back further or is it too early to tell?
 
FutureDent020 said:
Mandate was put out yesterday. I’m sure they will meet today and so on to figure this out. It’s going to be a complicated decision. Remember, even though it may not see like it at times, these are people making the decisions behind closed doors at your dental school. In this situation, they are going to make a decision that benefits the school and you. Luckily, getting you out of there is a common goal and interest.
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I originally thought so too, but it didn't sound that way at the conference call we had with admin recently. I'm hoping things turn out better than I'm expecting :xf:
 
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