Volume 7 • 2020 • Issue 4

James Armstrong BSc, MBA, DMD president@cda-adc.ca TheSkyisNotFalling The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or official policies of the Canadian Dental Association. T hese past months, you joined alongside your fellow Canadians to help flatten the curve of the COVID-19 outbreak. You triaged and treated your patients via telephone and videoconference. You donated PPEs to local hospitals. You provided emergency care in a context of heightened risk. Your effort and sacrifice contributed to the reduction of the spread of COVID-19 in your communities. You helped to save lives. Now, as we begin to look toward the future, there are new challenges ahead for our profession. CDA and the provincial dental associations have been developing resources and advocating for dentists as we start to collectively build the “new normal” of dental practise. The next few years will be unlike any in living memory for dentistry. The coming year and half will be particularly uncertain; the way we practise will change depending on the speed of innovation in COVID-19 testing and the development of a vaccine. It will also be influenced by the pace of reopening of the economy and a possible second wave of the pandemic. Our daily work will be different, but our core values will be the same: to protect the health and safety of our patients and our teams. We’ll be social distancing in our dental offices, using enhanced PPE, screening patients according to COVID-19 risk level, and taking medical histories virtually. We will be seeing fewer patients each day. Running our businesses will be different, and, to be frank, challenging for the next little while. Revenues will be lower because we will not be able to provide as many services to as many patients as we have in recent years. We’ll need to be nimble and find ways to decrease our costs and overhead. In business school, these are called cost leadership strategies. One model that I think may work well in the next few years is a 1950s-style practice; at the time, dental fees were low and costs were relatively high, and dental practices were leaner and more dentist-driven, rather than relying on auxiliaries. Dentists did more procedures at a single appointment; during the hygiene appointment they might also do a small filling or denture adjustment. Appointments were longer and the cost of supplies was spread over more procedures, which, in today’s context, is more efficient if you have additional costs due to PPEs. But new niche opportunities will open up. The health needs of seniors will be different in a world that includes COVID-19, and their oral health care has been historically underserved. Local, provincial and federal governments will have to re- imagine dental care for seniors, in our dental offices or in long-term care settings. We will incorporate new technologies into our practices that patients find valuable, such as teledentistry, which has proven so beneficial during this time. Dentistry has adapted to new infectious diseases before; through HIV, SARS, MERS, H1N1, or even the annual cold and flu season, we’ve always provided the highest standards of infection prevention to our patients. We’ve also weathered recessions and rapidly changing economic realities. I expect that economic recovery this time will come in fits and starts, but it will come. Speaking as a colleague, I wish I could personally tell each of you to take care of yourself, and each other. We will get through the next few years together, sharing the same challenges and joys. People need dental care; it’s an indispensable part of overall health. The impact of our work on the quality of Canadians’ daily lives is undiminished. Canada needs us. From the President 7 Issue 4 | 2020 | CDA at W ork