Impressions
“It was the best of times,
it was the worst of times...”
by Dr. Stephen T. Radack III, Editor
Coronavirus, COVID-19, Wuhan, global
pandemic, N-95, social distancing, flatten
the curve, national state of emergency,
shelter in place, stay at home order,
essential or non-essential,
hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine,
work from home, PPE shortage, postponed, CANCELLED!
When I sat at my desk at the office writing my editorial for the
March/April issue of the PDJ, I had not heard much about those
words above, or maybe only in passing. Now I sit at my desk at
home writing because the office is closed, and has been for
weeks due Governor Tom Wolf’s order on March19. This is the
longest time span I have not done dentistry without being on a
vacation or away at a dental meeting. I am not sure how we got
here, but like the falling row of dominos, it seemed once the
first one was tipped, it didn’t take long for the rest to start falling
fast. Right now, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.
Early in the New Year, we would occasionally hear about the
coronavirus, which seemed to be in China. Then it started
spreading outside of China and into Europe. People were not
only getting sick, but they were dying from this “flu.” I still
remember the first time I felt the impact of the fast-moving
virus. I received an email from the Commission of Dental
Competency Assessments (CDCA) on February 24, noting a
worldwide shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE),
due to COVID-19 (as it was being referred to more and more),
and that it was possible that some of the upcoming spring
licensing exams may be cancelled by the dental schools. That
email was sent at 2:50 p.m. I was scheduled to exam at two
upcoming exams – Case on February 28-29 and Maryland on
March 12-13. At 4:59 p.m. I received a second email cancelling
the Maryland exam. At this point, as far as we knew the virus
was not in the U.S….or was it? The Case exam went off without
any issues, except to guard your mask with your life. They had
plenty, but wanted to preserve them.
The first week and half of March seemed fairly uneventful.
I traveled to King of Prussia for the Greater Philadelphia Valley
Forge Dental Conference on March 4-6, and the noticeable
changes were more use of hand sanitizer and some folks
preferring not to shake hands when greeting one another. Close
proximity and making contact with hands were thought to be
part of the reason the virus was spreading so fast in Europe
and other places. The real changes came the following week, as
the far away pandemic hit home. Mary and I planned to go to
Maryland even though the CDCA exam was cancelled since we
both had the time off. Any chance to see one of our daughters,
and especially our grandson, was one we could not pass up.
During that six-hour trip the NBA and NHL both postponed
their seasons. The next day the governor of Maryland sent his
employees home until further notice. Schools were cancelled as
well for the next two weeks. By the time we headed home on
Sunday afternoon, March was truly mad, as the NCAA cancelled
– not postponed – the men’s basketball tournament. Wow!
During the ride home my phone was blowing up with alerts
from PDA Go. When I took the passenger seat I started reading
these, and there was much confusion and misinformation
being spread about what dentists should do going forward.
Folks wanted PDA to tell them what to do. During the next 24
hours both ADA and PDA boards were busy coming up with
science-based recommendations for the members. After a
confusing Monday (March16) at the office, ADA released its
guidelines and recommended dentists suspend elective
procedures and only treat emergencies. The same day Governor
Wolf ordered the state stores would close Tuesday and all bars
and restaurants would close immediately until further notice.
The confusion on what to do at the office continued the next
three days. Should we start cancelling all patients and only be
available for emergencies? Our hygienists wanted to keep
treating patients. I decided to clear my schedule of all elective
procedures Thursday (March 19) and the following week. By
Thursday evening it all became irrelevant as the governor
ordered all “non-essential” and “non-life sustaining business” be
closed until at least April 6. Wait a minute, aren’t dentists
essential? I guess only if someone had an emergency!
In a week, everything had changed. Everything in life was now
cancelled or postponed and most businesses were closed. The
stock market tumbled, losing almost a third of its value in a few
days. Soon we were ordered to stay at home except for going to
the grocery store and told don’t gather with anyone other than
who you live with. The virus was spreading like wildfire and we
needed to stay at home to “flatten the curve.” In Erie County
we had one known case of COVID-19. I woke up Friday morning,
and for the first time in almost 34 years was not able to work
and wouldn’t for the next 3 weeks at the earliest.
Things got worse and more confusing for dentists on Sunday
March 22 when the governor ordered no treatment in our
offices unless we had N95 masks and a negative pressure room
to work in. Everyone was to be treated as an infected patient. If
you didn’t have either then you would need to refer your patients
to the emergency room. What? What can the ER do for a
fractured tooth or lost crown or temporary? We were also
MAY/JUNE 2020 | PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL JOURNAL 5