Covid-19 Impact on Pennsylvania ’ s Dental Community
“ My hope is that my children and grandchildren will never have to go through another event like this in their lifetimes .”
— Dr . James Mancini
Were your patients hesitant to return to your office and has patient activity rebounded ?
“ In our practice , patients were anxious to return and only had a small percentage of patients wanting to hold off . We elected to do a phased return to care and staffing spread out over several months and stagger hours to have less people in the building at one time . Our practice has been exceptionally busy recently .”
Linda Straub-Bruce , RDH , BSEd , PHDHP , President , PDHA
“ Some patients were hesitant but , we assured each and every patient as to our safety measures that were instituted so they could have their essential dental care treated appropriately , safely and expeditiously . Almost all our patients understood and agreed to care . It really was not an issue .”
Dr . James Tauberg , PDA President 2020-2021
“ Some of our patients were very reluctant to return , but most were accepting of our changes and felt secure in returning . Once vaccinated the majority of patients returned . We are now busy , even busier than previous to the pandemic .
Dr . David Tecosky
COVID-19 Timeline
2020 |
December 11
DOH releases its COVID-19 Interim Vaccination Plan for Pennsylvania , with dentistry slotted into Phase 1B .
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December 17 – In large part due to PDA ’ s continuing advocacy , DOH moves dentistry from Phase 1B to higher priority Phase 1A in Pennsylvania ’ s updated vaccine plan |
December 18 – FDA issues emergency use authorization for Moderna COVID-19 vaccine . |
December 30 – DOH issues new order and guidance for vaccinating Phase 1A health care personnel in Pennsylvania . |
24 MAY / JUNE 2021 | PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL JOURNAL