Particularly exposed to coronavirus, dentists worry about their recovery

They’re worrying. Particularly exposed to coronavirus due to their contact with the saliva of patients, dentists and orthodontists fear that they will not be able to reopen their offices when the containment, due to the lack of sufficient protective equipment.

Who will be able to return to work on May 11, And under what conditions ? The deconfinement is in less than three weeks. But for the moment, we are in total blur, annoys Patrick Solera, president of the FSDL, the first union in the sector.

At the request of the National Order of Dental Surgeons, all dental offices closed their doors on March 18: only emergencies (toothaches, painful cavities and other infections) are still taken care of, after green light from the plates -regulatory forms.

This measure from our point of view was essential. But this pattern cannot continue, judges the president of the French Union for oral health (UFSBD) Sophie Dartevelle, worried about the lack of follow-up patients.

Between those who give up care and those who only receive temporary treatment, the situation is very unsatisfactory. We know that there is no good health without good oral health, insists the practitioner.

A concern shared by Alain Takeda, dentist in Strasbourg. Some of our patients have been waiting for a month for treatment and are only being treated with medication. These are time bombs, he warns.

“Reopening is an imperative”

For professionals, the urgency is also financial. According to figures published in mid-April by the platform for making medical appointments Doctolib, consultations have dropped by 95% since the crisis. A situation that weakens many cabinets.

Reopening is an imperative, for patients as well as for practices. The problem is that our business is inherently very exposed. So you can’t do it under any conditions, warns Alain Takeda.

Proximity to patients’ mouths, use of rotating instruments and sprays that cause nebulization… We are the job most at risk in terms of blood and saliva splashes. So we have to be extra careful, agrees Patrick Solera.

In mid-April, the president of the Order, Serge Fournier, brought together sector officials to discuss a plan to end the crisis. Objective: to draft a protocol setting sanitary rules applicable to all practices.

The recovery can only be done gradually, with specific protocols concerning the organization of reception and patient care […] and this, only if the dentist is in possession of the appropriate equipment, he said in a statement.

“We will last one day”

The main concern is the lack of FFP2 masks. Normally, surgical masks are sufficient. But with the virus, we absolutely need suitable masks, otherwise we risk being infected and infecting our patients, pleads Alain Takeda.

In a letter posted online on Twitter on Tuesday, Health Minister Olivier Véran promised to endow the profession with 150,000 FFP2 masks by May 11. A number deemed insufficient by dentists and their unions.

In France, there are 40,000 of us, so that makes 3.75 masks per practitioner. However, we use five a day: three for us, two for our assistants. It means that we will last one day, calculates Patrick Solera, who says he dreads a mask war.

The other difficulty concerns disinfections. To avoid any contamination, strict instructions will be decreed, in particular with regard to the ventilation of the premises. Rules deemed essential by the professionals themselves, but not without consequences for their activity.

The new protocol, currently being finalized, recommend ventilating the room between 15 and 30 minutes between each intervention. That means that where you see 15 patients a day, you’ll only see seven, says Patrick Solera.

A problem the department claims to be aware of. Many questions will have to be quickly clarified in terms of the functioning of the firms, conceded in his letter Mr. Véran, saying to hope return to an activity as close as possible to normal.

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