Alabama dental offices reopen

Ala. (WAFF) - The wait is over - you can now get those pearly whites cleaned at your local dentist office!

Having previously been restricted during the stay-at-home order, all dental procedures are now again authorized at offices across the state.

Still, strict precautions must be taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“We have to wear face shields... we need to have gowns..." says Dr. Brian Cook with Twickenham Family Dentistry.

These items though, can be hard to come by.

“We haven’t not had the PPE that we need, but certainly don’t have a huge inventory of it,” says Cook. “So, we’re constantly on the lookout for new sources of PPE.”

Patients are to take protective measures as well.

“We’re letting patients wait in their car, and we call or text them and we communicate with them only when we have the room in the office for their treatment ready.”

Patients also have their temperatures taken and are asked to swish with one percent peroxide both before and after the procedure.

“We don’t dismiss the patient from that closed room until there’s no one at the front desk, and they’re free to leave the building, so that we don’t have patients passing one another in close space," says Cook.

With all of these protective measures, Cook says his office is only able to see about half the patients it normally would. Still, he’s grateful to be able to provide any amount of much-needed care.

“I really think the measures they take to mitigate the risk compared to the benefit the population is getting from receiving the care they need, it’s appropriate to be back up and running now. I think it’s good.”

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