EMILY HSUEH
PONTIAC June 28, 2020
Quebec residents have reason to smile, as some dentists’ offices have begun to open their doors as COVID-19 restrictions are eased. On June 1, dental offices, along with other bodycare services like hairdressers and salons, were allowed to re-open after . . .
the National Assembly gave the green light.
While the services are once again available, a visit won’t be quite the same as pre-pandemic times.
At the Shawville Dental Centre – which opened three weeks ago – several strict measures are in effect to ensure the health and safety of every patient. Before the lockdown, only patients in need of urgent care were able to schedule appointments. Now, regular appointments are permitted, but screening must be done even before coming into the office.
“The secretary will go through the questionnaire with the patient,” explained Mohamad Aban Al-Khatib, a dentist at the Shawville Dental Centre. “Basically, [whether] they are not coughing, they don’t have fever, and so on. And also if they recently had contact with somebody who has signs and symptoms of COVID.”
The questionnaire, which was provided by the Order of Dentists of Quebec, is readministered if the patient is cleared to show up for a physical appointment.
The look of the office has also changed; according to Al-Khatib, no one is allowed in the waiting room and the five operatories have been separated.
“We had to put some temporary walls between the dental chairs so that each patient is treated in a closed space. The walls that we put are temporary and made of wood and plastic because we suppose that later it will not be necessary to keep the this obligation.”
The dentists have also switched masks from their usual surgical KN25 masks to the more effective N95, and are now wearing face shields.
The same precautions are being taken at the Pontiac Dental Centre in Campbell’s Bay, with one major difference: they are not open for normal appointments.
According to Liliane, a secretary at the Pontiac Dental Centre, their office has not gotten the necessary personal protective equipment required to resume full service. She said dental offices are required to have an air filtering machine in each room, and the Campbell’s Bay office was not able to secure any in time for the June 1 re-opening.
They have been put on their supplier’s wait list for air filters, which are expected to be delivered in mid-July.
The Pontiac Dental Centre is far from the only dental office unable to open due to the lack of PPE. In a report from the Order of Dentists of Quebec in late May, one third of their 2,200 members claimed they would be unable to reopen for June 1.
Liliane says that other than the expected July delivery date, there is no certain timeline for the office to return to regular service.
While the closure is still plaguing several dental clinics, Al-Khatib said he is grateful to be back on the job after a difficult two months away. His patients share the same sentiment.
“I’m glad that I am back to work and all my colleagues are glad to come back to work and to see that our patients. We are happy to see our patients, we received lots of positive comments of our patients encouraging us and that they are also glad to see us back.”
