Dear SCDA Member:
Although there are less changes in the world overall and in dentistry specifically this week, we continue to have ongoing concerns to work on. This week's letter touches on the major topics. Specifically for the SCDA, please take a minute to answer the survey towards the end of the letter. It is our way of taking your body temperature.
CDC GUIDELINES FOR DENTISTRY
Last Thursday, the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) released guidelines for non-emergency dental care. These guidelines seem to align with the ADA interim protocol, with a couple additional details. The one detail I found most helpful was that it is recommended to leave a room alone for 15 minutes after an aerosol procedure before cleaning it. To learn more about the updated guidelines from the CDC, plan to attend the CDC COCA meeting on Wednesday, June 3 at 2
p.m. More information can be found here.
LEGISLATIVE
The SCDA submitted another dental coalition letter to the South Carolina Senate Subcommittee on PPE which included the same points that we included in our letter to Governor McMaster last week. We are working closely with our lobbyists to be aware of any future groups or discussions that might address healthcare in general, COVID-19 testing or Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) specifically. The SCDA intends to be involved as much as possible in those discussions.
PPE - NEW SUPPLY OPTIONS
While we hear from most members that they have satisfied most of their PPE challenges for the time being, we are aware that gowns are still the number one challenge. We have added a few other options in the PPE Shopping Guide for South Carolina dentists. Since most offices are working at reduced productivity in the first 4-6 weeks back to work, the PPE supplies may be stretching further than they would otherwise. We continue to hear for the major traditional dental suppliers that their pipelines are beginning to replenish. This will be good news for all of us! In the meantime, I would ask two things. First, if you need something, check the SCDA PPE Shopping Guide on the website. Secondly, if you need a source for a certain PPE category, and cannot find it, please email Mark Brown (brownm@scda.org) to let us know and see if we have additional information to help.
In the meantime, the SCDA PPE Work Group has located a company who has authentic N95 masks in stock while supplies last. The company is Cast Suppliers and you can visit their website. You will find they offer other PPE items in addition to masks. While some of these may be out of stock, additional supplies are expected. The best way to place an order for your needs would be to contact Colby Cohen directly at
c.cohen@castsuppliers.com. Colby is the South Carolina representative who has played in the NHL and worked in a number of ventures regarding sporting goods design, the Beijing Olympics and currently manages the company's supply chain.
SCDA member, Vicki Chung said about this group "I have been very grateful to work with Cast Suppliers on procuring quality NIOSH N95s. They arrived quickly and the customer service was on point. These masks we have received qualify for sterilization and my entire staff passed a fit test with no problems. It is nice to have a reliable supplier I can count on that carries a quality product."
SHORT SCDA SURVEY - please reply
Outside of PPE, we are all aware that the American Dental Association (ADA) gathers information nationally. It would be very helpful for us to gauge the wellness of our members in order to address your needs. Would you please take a minute to respond to this short survey regarding Productivity, PPE and PPP? SCDA Survey
LATEST ADA TOOL
All ADA members should
have received, via email, a HAZARD ASSESSMENT GUIDE and CHECKLIST to add to our tools to minimize "the risk of COVID-19 spread to dental team employees and their patients." The assessment involves a number of action items to consider in line with recommendations from Occupational Safety and Health Programs (OSHA).
HR WEBINAR RECORDING
In case you were unable to join the CEDR HR Solutions Webinar on May 27th, please click on this
link
to answer some of the questions you may have as you bring staff back. In addition, CEDR offers many of their documents free of charge in their HR Vault.
Future communications will probably become less than weekly as we settle into a less newsworthy period. You will continue to be at the top of our minds. The entire SCDA staff has returned to headquarters after working from home for a number of weeks. Your volunteer leaders, as well as, the entire SCDA staff are focused on helping everyone return to work safely and successfully. We welcome your feedback. Please reach out to either myself
mikelljulia23@gmail.com
or Phil at
lathamp@scda.org if you are aware of any problem(s) we are not addressing.
Congratulations on another hard week well done!
Julia Mikell
SCDA President
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