The Provincial Health Officer has posted a new provincial health order mandating that health care professionals report their vaccination status — and that status must be fully vaccinated unless they have a special exemption. Dr. Bonnie Henry made the announcement in early 2022 that all health care professionals would need to be vaccinated to work, but it … Read more
We know the world is showing signs of re-opening and that is a time for cautious optimism. Cautious because it seems we have been down this path before only to have a new variant push us back. But optimism may feel strong as maybe…just maybe…this time we will be in a better position to avoid … Read more
A British Columbia dentist is speaking out against the province’s looming vaccination deadline for private-sector healthcare professionals, saying his licensing college should tell Dr. Bonnie Henry “to crawl back into whichever hole she came out of.” Robert Johnson, a dentist in Salmon Arm, B.C. posted a strongly-worded video to social media on Wednesday in an effort to … Read more
Nearly two years into the pandemic with widespread availability of COVID-19 vaccines and a decrease in infections, new studies reveal dental hygienists have low COVID-19 infection rates and high vaccination acceptance. In addition, less than half of dental hygienists that left employment early in the pandemic have returned to the workforce in 2021, and staffing … Read more
A Niagara Falls woman who allegedly refused to put on a mask in a dentist’s office and then refused to leave was charged Thursday after she smashed a hole in the wall of the waiting room, according to a Falls police report. Officers responded to Aspen Family Dental, 1705 Pine Ave., at 10:22 a.m. after … Read more
The Ministry of Health’s Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) has clarified the recently revised Directive #2. The Directive says that “non-urgent and non-emergent surgeries and procedures will cautiously and gradually resume in pediatric specialty hospitals and other settings such as private hospitals and independent health facilities to alleviate pressures from deferred care.” The College has now been … Read more
In follow-up to the notice given to health professionals in October 2021, the provincial health officer is finalizing, in consultation with all health professional colleges, an order that requires all regulated health professionals to be vaccinated by March 24, 2022, to work in their occupation in British Columbia. The purpose of this provincial health officer … Read more
While over a third of dental practices have seen no change to their staffing, there are many dentists that are struggling to hire new team members during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over ½ of dentists have begun offering higher wages to attract new staff, while many dentists have yet to take any action. If you find … Read more
We know the pandemic has had a profound impact on the dental profession. Hygiene, in particular, has been hit hard, with a number of hygienists seeing it as a sign to change careers. The resulting labour market has seen dentists jumping over each other, pushing salaries ever higher to make sure they had someone—anyone—available to … Read more
Welcome to 2022. We, as dentists, hygienists, assistants and office administrators, have now been affected by COVID-19 for almost two years in some way, shape or form. Our dental offices have experienced situations that none of us ever dreamed of even in our worst nightmares. As a dental practice owner, I have learned so much … Read more
All NHS staff working at Salisbury Hospital will receive a free mouthwash as part of a pioneering initiative inspired by the research work of Salisbury Consultant Radiologist Dr Graham Lloyd-Jones, who has proposed that simple oral hygiene measures could reduce severe COVID-19 infection. In this latest development in the hospital’s drive to improve oral healthcare, … Read more
Students at a private Vancouver technical college for dental hygienists say their school isn’t doing enough to ensure safety amid the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. Students at the Vancouver College of Dental Hygiene are calling for their classroom instruction to be moved online, citing crowded classrooms, poor air circulation and and on-campus COVID exposures. … Read more
NHS dental patients are to be offered care over weekends and into the night as dentists try to tackle the backlog of care built up by the COVID-19 pandemic, officials have said. More than 350,000 additional dentist appointments are to be made available to patients in England over the coming months, the NHS said. NHS … Read more
University of Alberta dentistry student Will Teichgraber won his case against Alberta Health Services (AHS) over the ministry’s vaccine mandate, according to a press release by Liberty Coalition Canada (LCC) on Monday. LCC said that due to the work of its chief litigator James Kitchen and other legal pushback against the Alberta government, AHS ended its mandatory … Read more
Pfizer Canada announced that Health Canada has authorized the use of PAXLOVID™ (nirmatrelvir tablets and ritonavir tablets) for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adults (18 years of age and older) with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing, and who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death. The … Read more
Meredith Skinner knows stress is impacting her body. She’s been dealing with clenching her jaw for a few years already, but it’s grown worse during the pandemic. “It is absolutely stress-related,” Skinner said. “In the last two years, I have cared for and lost my aunt and dad. I think COVID-19 probably amplified the stress.” … Read more
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY of an article in preparation for publication Prepared by: Dennis Cvitkovitch PhD, Professor, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto. X-PUR Opti-Rinse Plus is a preventative, non-prescription mouthrinse. It provides therapeutic benefits and should be recognized for its potential use in-office as an effective Pre-Procedural Mouthrinse (PPMR), and recommended by today’s dental professional for … Read more
COVID-19 has certainly turned our world upside down. Nowhere is this truer than in the dental profession. Dental offices all over our country have had to step up measures to ensure that our patients and staff are safe. In fact, dentistry has been a success story with how well we have all done to prevent … Read more
Oral Health is excited to share the results of our annual Data Driven Dentistry survey! After the success of last year’s survey, which focused predominantly on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dental industry, we have collected data from Canadian dentists with a focus on how dentists are continuing to find success in … Read more
The mass vaccination programs, which have developed in response to the current COVID-19 pandemic, have for the most part been a great success with a few complications. However, we report on an “unusual adverse event,” which required dental/oral surgery consultation. Case Report A healthy 36-year-old male presented to the Emergency Room following a post injection … Read more