The Mississippi Board of Dental Examiners limited the practice of dentistry when the Covid-19 shutdown began earlier this month. The Board and State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs only allowed dentists to perform emergency procedures during the shutdown. Dentists' hopes were dashed when the Board voted to extend the restrictions for another week. The Mississippi Dental Association urged its members to raise hell with the Board as well as Dr. Dobbs in an email sent to members:
The Mississippi Dental Association was made aware that the MS Board of Dental Examiners called an emergency meeting today at 3 p.m. and it was a closed meeting. Please click HERE to view the directive that came out of their meeting (KF: Posted below). The MSBDE is directing dentists only to perform essential services for an additional week. This will delay patient care!
Last week, the MS Board of Dental Examiners published phase-in guidelines for dentists to reopen their practices. Dr. Thomas Dobbs, the MS State Board of Health Officer, and the Office of the Governor, approved the plan. Apparently, Dr. Dobbs is trying to alter the rules to delay patient care. The MS Dental Hygienist Association is putting pressure on him. He needs to know that dentists are the lead in the dental team and should be the voice on dentistry. He also needs to know that dentists work in a very safe environment and have the highest standards for quality patient care. If a dental hygienist feels unsafe, then they need to let the dentists know. Dentists should be the leading voice.
We need as many dentists as possible to contact Dr. Dobbs and Dr. Angela Filzen, Director of the State Department of Health Oral Health Program, and let them know that dentists should be the voice for dentistry.
35 comments:
Tater got this, he has a degree from Millsaps.
tell them to squeeze the charmin.
As long as the dentists and all their staff are tested daily for the COVID-19 virus (via PCR) and found to be negative, there is no reason to stop them from working.
If the dentists are not tested daily, they will transmit the virus to their patients and it is a disaster. No masks (even N95) stop transmission at close quarters.
Our country is lost.
Leading causes of death:
Heart disease: 647,457
Cancer: 599,108
Accidents (unintentional injuries): 169,936
Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 160,201
Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 146,383
Alzheimer’s disease: 121,404
Diabetes: 83,564
Influenza and Pneumonia: 55,672
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis: 50,633
Intentional self-harm (suicide): 47,173
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm
None of these shut our country down.
Screw Dobbs.
BTW Antard, I'm open carrying all day today while I work in my front yard.
like pulling teeth-
Most of those aren't contagious, 8:56. Apples v. Oranges
@8:56
Imagine if you could stop the spread of cancer just by staying at home!
8:56 - let's see now. Of all the causes of death you listed, I see only one, perhaps two, that are contagious. Yep. Your statistics make a whole lot of sense. Thanks for enlightening us.
You left out the part that only a few days prior, Dr. Dobbs and the board released the same back to work guidelines with a start date a week earlier. Our dental offices spent countless hours scheduling patients for the week of May 4th, only to be told a couple days later that they changed their minds and will be pushing it back another week. More information from the MDA has since been released letting us know that Dr. Dobbs’ change of heart was influenced by the opinions of “individual dental hygienists” who just so happen to be collecting nearly the same or more from unemployment than working 8-5 at the dental office. Many dental hygienists are refusing to come back to work and hiding behind the fear for their own safety, but instead of choosing to stay home, they are rallying for our small dental practices to remain closed, effectively jeopardizing the businesses we’ve spent years building.
@8:37,
Just make it a rule that vulnerable groups cant get dental work. 16-50 years olds who dont suffer from pre-existing conditions can get treated. It is absolutely that simple. Let the vulnerable stay home and cower in fear. Or simply let them die. Stop crippling the rest of us with your fear.
@8:56am - None of those are transmitted in the air by people without symptoms either. Tyrone and Jimbo can’t infect me with a car accident or diabeetus in the grocery store.
If we carry on like nothing is happening just as we do with those causes of death you mentioned, Covid-19 would top your list easily in the millions.
But you’re right, open it back up. MAGA. I need a haircut, my mullet is getting long in the front.
Do dentists really need hygientists to clean teeth right now. My dentist cleans my teeth himself. If hygientists don't want to come to work out of supposed fear of catching the virus that is fine. But don't continue to pay them.
@8:56. You haven't heard. They've all been reclassified as Covid19. 😂
8:56
Over the past four weeks, Covid 19 has become the second leading cause of death in the USA. You may want to update your numbers and only look at the period that Covid 19 was active.
Fish gets a gold star for the headline.
Of all the causes of death you listed only Influenza is contagious. Even with the restrictions that have been in place COVID related deaths have exceeded the entire yearly flu deaths in just six weeks, and we will be very lucky if we don't hit 200,000 by December. The initial estimates of more than 1,000,000 deaths in the first year if nothing was done to mitigate the spread are very reasonable.
Given the information available at the time the right decision was made. The economy would have been trashed even more if we had New York, Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, and Los Angeles medical facilities looking like Italy and Spain.
We need to open things back up to the greatest extent possible, and we are in the process of doing so. Ultimately the citizens will decide as a group what is an acceptable number of deaths. If the rate climbs back too high then there will be enough support for reining things in again. It will be interesting to see what Georgia and Florida do through the end of May. They have volunteered to be the control group, and their results will greatly affect the decisions of other states.
@9:16 It is disturbing to read comments like yours. You have no soul and no ethics. You are an ugly person. To insist on dentists creating a "safe" environment will not only prevent transmission to the "risk" groups but also to those with no known risks. And there are many. It is OK in your book for those children and young adults who have unrecognized risks (until it is too late) to die by dentist.
The cost and testing are not difficult to day. Your comments are repulsive.
8:56 am
You continue to be deliberately clueless.
Only 1 item on your list is CONTAGIOUS!
There are treatments for 4 of the 5 or the numbers would be higher.
These are totals for a YEAR and we are only 2 damn months into keeping stats on CV19 .
The death rate we currently have for some things on that list means we are now competing with 3 world countries on death per capita when we used to have the best rates in the civilized world.
@10:11AM
Society will cease to function if we are required to make life safe for everyone. It is impossible. Hysterical appeals to emotion only work on women and eunuchs.
Do a web search for the octogenarians and centenarians recovering from Covid-19. Why are so many of these people of advanced age, that are healthy weight and never smoked a day in their life, able to recover?
The economy would have been trashed even more if we had New York, Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, and Los Angeles medical facilities looking like Italy and Spain.
How so? Be specific.
There may be a few dentists who could take the precautions needed. Maybe those few have enough PPE and sanitizing agents and would reasonably guarantee safety.
The problem is, as usual, a few rotten apples spoil the entire barrel. And, those apples will include the patients who show up.
We see every day that Covidiots prove they will only increase their irresponsible behavior when guidelines are loosened.
If you want to blame someone for the inconveniences, look at everyone you see who isn't social distancing or wearing covering for their nose and mouth and aren't using the wipes and hand sanitizers provided.
All that said, I doubt seriously that a week will make a bit of difference. We've already screwed up by not waiting until we've reached CDC guidelines to re-open. Those putting economics first are making sure this lasts longer and will be economically more devastating. They see business only in dollars and not in needed workers.
I am learning who is smart and who is trustworthy. Already covidiots who are allowed to conduct business have lost mine, as they aren't trying to protect me by wearing masks and/or keeping distance.
The monopolies we've allowed to grow won't have to worry, but smaller businesses may find the " Good Will" should never have been taken off their financial statements. Banks who've financed those small businesses may end up seeing that customer loyalty and satisfaction is important as well.
@April 30, 2020 at 10:39 AM
Sure, not the original commenter, but I'll take this one, since you're being a smart ass.
- It would be way worse, especially if we saw the death rates those countries saw amongst their general population in Northern Italy, specifically. Guess what happens when people die? They don't earn income and don't contribute to GDP.
- Also, you think healthcare costs are bad now... how much of this care do you think is uncompensated? A lot.
- Hospitals also don't operate for electric medical care when they're dealing with a pandemic. You prolong this much longer by loosening restrictions, you take the 'bandaid pull' of 6-8 weeks and turn into into a slow bleed that lasts for a year. Guess what? You don't have hospitals anymore in most areas because they go bankrupt. What do you think the impact to GDP will be if we don't suffer a slow down, but instead suffer a systemic collapse of the healthcare system in the US due to financial default.
There are about 10 other ways it's worse, if you're still reading.
Don't be an asshole. It's clear that slowing the spread and flattening the curve is better than the Mad Max dystopian scenario where we just 'let the sick die' that you jerk off to.
Grow up. Be a rational thinker. It doesn't hurt.
"Our country is lost.
Leading causes of death: [...]
None of these shut our country down."
You don't catch diabetes or heart disease by grocery shopping or eating out, dummy.
All of this was started by the total ineffectiveness and dare I say stupidity of the Mississippi State Board of Dental Examiners. (Ask anyone who has tried to listen to one of their conference call board meetings - when they actually have a public meeting - that could be an entirely different KF thread.) On April 23 the MSBDE voted on phased reopening dates, but they did so without consulting with Dr. Dobbs, the State Department of Health, the Governor's office - nada. MSBDE emailed out the reopening plan to its licensees, who began calling patients and booking appointments, but several days later Dobbs tells MSBDE sorry, that's not going to work, here are the dates when you can reopen. If the executive director of the MSBDE had a clue about how to run an organization and communicate, this situation wouldn't be the cluster F that it is. And don't even get me started about how Dobbs says that hygienists and dentists are high risk professions with regards to COVID, yet MEMA won't provide personal protection equipment to dentists, saying the "no PPE" is under Dobbs' orders. Can't we all work together to safely - and effectively - reopen dental offices?
The extra week is mainly to allow dental offices to get the needed extra PPE to treat patients. Many hygienists need the face shields now that did not use them before (some did). A lot of employees took or donated supplies.
Next week, only those under 65 with no underlying health issues can get routine care.
My dentist yesterday (in Madison) sent out a email blast saying that there would be a new $20 PPE fee being charged to the patient directly due to them having to throw away PPE between patients. Said when they resumed seeing patients this would now be charged to the client.
I didn't have a warm and fuzzy feeling about the email. We go to the dentist often and get what we need done and have good insurance. They charge a huge amt. for what we do get----can they not just absorb this as a cost of that $1200 visit when we get a crown, etc.? Am I wrong? Maybe they all will do this but this really rubbed me wrong.
Under 65 can get regular care next week???? AGE DISCRIMINATION !!!!!!! We Seniors will
Get a class action suit going, Im putting in a call to my smooth mouth!!
There's some stupid as crap rules being promulgated by some "kings for a day" nincompoops. My niece had to report this week at Madison Central since the governor lifted the shelter orders. They sit there all day looking at each other because there are no students (she's not a teacher). It is said that the principle stated that all these people at home were not really working.
Thank you 0856! Apparently your illustration of a rational sense of proportion is lost on many of these simpletons. I'll buy you a drink someday. I just hope all these knuckle-draggers don't choke the waiting list at my favorite watering hole once they get the ok to come out of their 'fraidy-hole.
While a few of my molars need a good cleaning, I'm starting to look like Charles Manson.
I need a haircut ASAP !
I'll even try baby choke's "drive through" grooming idea.
Agree with 8:56 and 2:23. This has become a serious joke. The sheep out here are getting thick. Time to shear some wool and butcher for meat.
God bless the barbers, they’re gonna let a dentist root around in your mouth for 30 minutes or so before they let the barbers cut hair.
Realistically, more dental offices should have been utilizing more PPE or using it correctly long before COVID-19. The transition to what is being required now would not have been as big of a challenge and maybe Dobbs, Filzen and anyone else involved would have been more receptive to a quicker return to routine dentistry.
You can bet your caps that your insurance will NOT cover the charge for PPE. It should be written off as a business expense, like the nite janitor or electric bill. These people already wear masks and rubber gloves and they sure as hell will NOT throw plastic face shields away after every patient. Will they be 'gowned up' too?
My wife goes to a chiropractor twice a week. How is that allowed when dentists, barbers and beauticians sit idly by and their staff are furloughed?
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