Volume 9 • 2022 • Issue 2

The pandemic has fundamentally changed dentistry in terms of how we practise and our emphasis on infection control procedures for preventing respiratory illness.Our protocolswork. Our standards are higher than they were before the pandemic and that’s a good thing. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or official policies of the Canadian Dental Association. Q What does this shift to individual responsibility mean for dentistry in Canada? AB: The pandemic has fundamentally changed dentistry in terms of how we practise and our emphasis on infection control procedures for preventing respiratory illness. Our protocols work. Our standards are higher than they were before the pandemic and that’s a good thing. The public trusts us to keep them safe. I would hope that dentists are still getting their boosters and are aware of their own risk levels of exposure outside of the operatory. A COVID infection, even if it isn’t severe, is still a logistical challenge for a dental office when infected or exposed people have to stay home. There are many big picture questions about how dentistry fits within a broader economic recovery from the pandemic. Most of the government stimulus has moved through the system and we’re generally seeing a rebounding economy now. We’re starting to see growth in employment and an increase in spending. People are returning to offices and workplaces, back to the routines of their lives, which is good news economical and it will have a positive impact on dentistry. The numbers we see at CDA suggest that, on some days, the level of activity of dentistry in the country exceeds pre-pandemic activity. There are still exceptions, but it appears that we’re actually catching up to the growth that we would have expected had the past two years been less turbulent. Of course, there have been economic disruptions and labour adjustments. Some people have left dentistry over the past two years, including support personnel. Supply chain issues have improved in many sectors, but not all. Many dental offices have a backlog of repairs, renovations and other work. Finding qualified people in the trades, especially electricians and plumbers who specialize in dental offices, is difficult because they are in such high demand. Q What’s happening at CDA related to the pandemic? AB: Here at CDA, we’re focused on debriefing about what has occurred over the last two years and capturing what we learned as a profession during COVID about managing a crisis. We’re also working to create helpful tools for dental offices so that we can all be prepared and well-positioned for the next crisis. In general, people have a short memory after a problem has been dealt with. We tend to forget about it and shift our attention. But we will use focus groups and debrief sessions to capture the experiences of the last two years and use this knowledge in a structured way. Across the country, experiences of the pandemic have been diverse and different communities have come up with a variety of solutions to pandemic problems. We want to include as much of this expertise as possible. Q What is your own clinical work like now? AB: At the public health clinic where I work, we are seeing some patients that we haven’t seen for two years. More elderly patients with medical complications are coming to see us again. We are struggling to fit them all into our schedule. One change we made during the pandemic that is serving us well now is doing more virtual assessments using digital technology. The team can review everything in advance virtually, including radiographs, scans, photos and videos. We’re also having many of our conversations with patients remotely before they are scheduled so that we can use our time in the operatory as efficiently as possible. In my own life, even as the emphasis on COVID has receded in the media, I’m continuing to be vigilant. To me, it makes sense to cautiously move forward and see what the new season brings and think about what I may need to do again in the autumn months. 10 | 2022 | Issue 2 CDA atWork