Dentists struggle as they face new challenges under COVID-19

Tom Schripsema, executive director of New Mexico Dental Association, said the three month closure has been hard on dentists. Now they have to consider everything from the way air flows in their practices to increasing the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) at a time when PPE is scarce and more expensive. They also have […]

Dentists struggle as they face new challenges under COVID-19

Tom Schripsema, executive director of New Mexico Dental Association, said the three month closure has been hard on dentists.

Now they have to consider everything from the way air flows in their practices to increasing the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) at a time when PPE is scarce and more expensive. They also have to limit the number of patients they can see in a day to keep patients and everyone who works in the practice safe from COVID-19.

In addition, dentists who are recent graduates could be under a significant student loan debt burden. Jennifer Thompson, a dentist with a private practice in Farmington, said the average dentist comes out of dental school with $290,000 in student loans.

The federal government put a hold on all student loan debt until the fall, but dentists can be facing a “high debt burden,” Thompson said. That can include debt for equipment and technology for routine work, plus, potentially, the practice itself and/or the building, in addition to meeting payroll. 

Thompson said some dental supply companies have allowed dentists to defer payments but that has been on a case-by-case basis.

Some small business aid through the federal CARES Act has helped and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services began offering additional aid to dentists who serve patients on Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP, this month Thompson said.

That will help dentists across the state but the additional help has the potential to aid rural dentists especially because they “see everybody,” Thompson said.

Dentists who see a lot of Medicaid and CHIP patients operate on a “slim margin,” Thompson said. 

The state required dentists to attest to having enough PPE to last them for two weeks to reopen. But masks that used to cost a few cents now can cost as much as $50 for a box, Thompson said.

Dentists also have to reconsider the way the air flows in their offices, since COVID-19 is primarily spread through exhaling and some dental procedures inevitably create a spray from the mouth. Schripsema said New Mexico’s tendency to rely on evaporative coolers, known as swamp coolers, could be an advantage. Dentists who use evaporative coolers to cool their offices can simply open windows to improve air flow. 

To offset costs, dentists may begin charging patients an extra $10 to $20 per visit, Schripsema said. But he also thinks there will have to be adjustments and negotiations over dental benefits. 

Some dentists had to purchase portable units that circulate the air through filters.

In addition, dentists in the state are “working below 70 percent capacity,” Schripsema said.

“It’ll be that way for a long time,” he said.

What to expect

Dentists are also wearing more PPE than before, Thompson said. She said some dentists are now telling patients to wear an extra layer when they come because dentists are keeping the office cooler than before because the dentist and staff are wearing “all these layers of PPE and they get very, very hot.”

Thompson called the new required PPE, “battle gear.”

For procedures that are likely to create a spray from the patient’s mouth, dentists and staff are advised to wear a full gown, an N95 mask, a face shield, hair bonnets and respirators, Thompson said.

“The respirators, masks, face shields and gowns are still very difficult to get,” Thompson said.

Not all procedures will require the full “battle gear,” Thompson said. But some procedures may now require “dental dams,” which cover the mouth except for the tooth to be worked on. 

Patients also may not be able to get their teeth polished as the polishing equipment can create spray from the mouth and polishing is considered cosmetic, Thompson said. But scraping plaque out from between teeth is considered necessary, she said.

“If they are still polishing, it’s being done with a higher amount of suction involved,” Thompson said.

Additional changes include plexiglass barriers, patients being asked to wait in their cars, and removing things like magazines from the waiting area while adding hand sanitizer. And patients are asked to wear a mask at all times in the dentist office except for during the procedure.

Also, patients are asked to come alone and they go through a screening process. 

When the patient arrives at the dentist office, staff takes the patient’s temperature and asks screening questions again before the patient can come inside. Thompson said everyone who enters the dental office has to go through a temperature check, including delivery drivers. 

Thompson said the first screening process has discovered some patients who were COVID-19 positive.

Appointment times are also staggered because the air has to be allowed to settle between patients, plus the dentist and staff may have to change PPE between patients. And dentists prioritize some patients. Thompson said dentists are seeing an increase of dental emergencies because of the three-month wait created by the public health emergency.

The future

Thompson said that as a dentist in Farmington, things feel “uncertain.”

Because community spread has been greater in McKinley, San Juan and Cibola counties, dentists in that region had to wait an additional two weeks before opening back up. So dentists in the northwest corner of the state are just now seeing patients, while dentists in other regions opened sooner. 

“It’s been widely accepted that people are pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic and we have to treat everyone as if they have the virus,” Thompson said. 

She said mask wearing is expected.

She said her dental office is prepared to scale back, if necessary. Dentists have to pay attention to the spread of the disease and if the numbers start to drastically increase, regardless of what region they are in, they may have to scale back their practice in response.

Thompson said patients are grateful for the additional precautions and Schrispsema said patients seem ready to come back. 

But, Schrispsema said many dental practices will face a long road to get back to normal financially, including operating at full capacity because of the pandemic.

“For some it could take a year or more to get back to where it was,” he said.

We're ad free

That means that we rely on support from readers like you. Help us keep reporting on the most important New Mexico Stories by donating today.

Related

Lujan Grisham pocket vetoes two bills

Lujan Grisham pocket vetoes two bills

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham pocket vetoed two bills the legislature passed this legislative session: one changing the Cybersecurity Act and the other concerning law…
Gov signs bills with some vetoes 

Gov signs bills with some vetoes 

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed 69 bills that the legislature passed during the 2024 legislative session. These included the General Appropriations Act which contains…
Guv signs state budget

Guv signs state budget

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the budget bill for Fiscal Year 2025 and the Capital Outlay spending bill. The FY25 state budget bill passed…
State fines oil company more than $2 million after spill

State fines oil company more than $2 million after spill

The Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department fined an oil and gas company operating in the Permian Basin more than $2 million over produced…
PRC denies request to build LNG storage facility

PRC denies request to build LNG storage facility

The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission unanimously rejected a request by the New Mexico Gas Co. to build, own and operate a liquified natural…
NM Supreme Court upholds Community Solar Rule

NM Supreme Court upholds Community Solar Rule

Hours after the New Mexico Supreme Court heard arguments in the investor-owned utilities’ appeal of the community solar rule, the justices upheld the regulations…
Amid new graduation requirements, what do high schoolers want to learn?

Amid new graduation requirements, what do high schoolers want to learn?

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican The main things that bring Brayan Chavez to school every day: Seeing, talking to and engaging with…
Special ed teachers hope lawmakers OK pay raises, admin changes

Special ed teachers hope lawmakers OK pay raises, admin changes

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican Brittany Behenna Griffith has a laundry list of adjectives to describe the ideal special education teacher:…
Lawmakers must find consensus on competing education spending plans

Lawmakers must find consensus on competing education spending plans

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican A challenging task awaits New Mexico lawmakers in the next 30 days: Reconciling three very different…
Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Friday $10 million in funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act was awarded to six tribal nations and…
Proposal to curb executive powers moves to House Judiciary

Proposal to curb executive powers moves to House Judiciary

The House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee discussed a potential constitutional amendment that seeks to limit the governor’s executive powers. The committee approved…
Supreme Court censures attorney over conduct in anti-COVID policy suits

Supreme Court censures attorney over conduct in anti-COVID policy suits

The New Mexico State Supreme Court censured a New Mexico attorney because of her “misconduct” in two unsuccessful cases pushing back on COVID-19 regulations…
Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Later this month, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the case against the abortion medication mifepristone. It will hear a second…
How Biden, others highlighted reproductive rights at the State of the Union

How Biden, others highlighted reproductive rights at the State of the Union

President Joe Biden highlighted reproductive rights issues as part of his State of the Union speech Thursday. Biden delivered his 2024 State of the…
Stansbury invites OB-GYN doctor as her state of the union guest 

Stansbury invites OB-GYN doctor as her state of the union guest 

U.S. House of Rep. Melanie Stansbury has invited an OB-GYN doctor from Roswell as her guest for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union…
Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Later this month, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the case against the abortion medication mifepristone. It will hear a second…
How Biden, others highlighted reproductive rights at the State of the Union

How Biden, others highlighted reproductive rights at the State of the Union

President Joe Biden highlighted reproductive rights issues as part of his State of the Union speech Thursday. Biden delivered his 2024 State of the…
Stansbury invites OB-GYN doctor as her state of the union guest 

Stansbury invites OB-GYN doctor as her state of the union guest 

U.S. House of Rep. Melanie Stansbury has invited an OB-GYN doctor from Roswell as her guest for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union…
See who’s going to be on your primary ballot in June

See who’s going to be on your primary ballot in June

Tuesday marked the official beginning of the 2024 New Mexico primary season for the legislature, with candidates officially filing for candidacy. This is the…

Bill to require disclosure of use of AI in campaign materials goes to governor

The Senate approved a bill aiming to require the disclosure of the use of artificial intelligence or other changes made by computers to campaign…
House amends, passes bill banning firearms near polling places

House amends, passes bill banning firearms near polling places

The House narrowly approved a bill that would ban firearms near polling places. The House voted 35-34 to pass the bill following an extensive…
U.S. Supreme Court lets ban on Couy Griffin from holding office stand

U.S. Supreme Court lets ban on Couy Griffin from holding office stand

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of a Republican official who was barred from holding office after being convicted for a…
Politics Newsletter: legislative leaders not running for reelection

Politics Newsletter: legislative leaders not running for reelection

Hello fellow political junkies! Candidate filing day has come and gone, and members of House and Senate leadership opted to either not seek reelection…
Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Friday $10 million in funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act was awarded to six tribal nations and…

GET INVOLVED

© 2023 New Mexico Political Report