In order to protect staff and preserve personal protective equipment and patient care supplies, as well as expand available hospital capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that dental facilities postpone elective procedures, surgeries, and non-urgent dental visits, and prioritize urgent and emergency visits and procedures now and for the coming several weeks. This aligns with the American Dental Association (ADA)'s March 16, 2020 recommendation that dentists nationwide postpone elective procedures, as well the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)'s March 19, 2020 guidance that all non-essential dental exams and procedures be postponed until further notice.

For urgent clinical care of patients with known or suspected COVID-19, dental personnel and medical providers should work together to determine an appropriate facility for treatment and should follow the Interim   Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Patients with Confirmed Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) or Persons Under Investigation for COVID-19 in Healthcare Settings. The urgency and need for a procedure are decisions based on clinical judgement and should be made on a case-by-case basis.

CDC's Division of Oral Health is diligently working with CDC's Emergency Operations Center to develop COVID-19 guidance for dental settings. This is an emerging, rapidly evolving situation and CDC will provide updated information, including interim infection control guidance for dental settings, as it becomes available.

CDC urges providers to be familiar with the information on CDC's COVID-19 website. Specific information is available for  Healthcare Professionals, including a  Healthcare Professional Preparedness Checklist, instructions on  Evaluating and Reporting Persons Under Investigation (PUI), Healthcare Personnel with Potential Exposure Guidance , and What Healthcare Personnel Should Know. Dental healthcare personnel can also consider signing up for communications from CDC's Health Alert Network, which is CDC's primary method of sharing information about urgent public health incidents with healthcare providers.

The Division of Oral Health will communicate through partners as soon as guidance is available for the dental community. Thank you for all you are doing to keep our country safe and healthy.

Sincerely,
CDC Division of Oral Health