Is it safe to go to the dentist yet? Here’s how COVID-19 will affect your cleanings.
Returning to routine dental work requires effort on both the dentists and their patients. (Pixabay/)After months of stress-eating,-drinking, and having a valid excuse to avoid the dentist, your teeth are probably ready for a cleaning. Dental offices, which have been closed for non-emergencies since early March, are starting to reopen under new CDC guidelines. But there’s a lot to consider before heading back in for routine work—and if possible, you might want to just wait. You shouldn’t assume that your personal dentist is following all of those guidelines to the letter, says JoAnn Gurenlian, a professor of dental hygiene at Idaho State University and chair of the American Dental Hygienists’ Association’s COVID-19 task force on the return to work. “I don’t think you should assume that every office has put all the new measures that are in our guidance documents in place,” she says. Before you head in for your regular cleaning,...