safe

Fitness

Is a Dentist Appointment Safe Right Now?

By Shelton Muro 4 weeks ago

Going to the dentist has never been what we’d call a good time, but, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s a more loaded endeavor than ever. After all, there’s no way to mask up while getting your teeth cleaned, which means you’re more vulnerable to potential coronavirus exposure than you might be in other health care scenarios. As a result, you may be questioning whether or not to make that appointment.

On August 3, the World Health Organization (WHO) supported that impulse to postpone dentist check-ups. In response to COVID-19 transmission rate increases, the United Nations agency released new guidance regarding oral health care, recommending that routine dental care—check-ups, cleaning, and other preventative services—be avoided. Essential visits like oral emergencies should continue to be scheduled.

The reasoning behind this type of caution, explains Timothy Brewer, MD, professor of medicine and epidemiology at UCLA, is that dentists, hygienists, and patients are at

Fitness

Yes, it’s safe to go to the dentist

By Shelton Muro 1 month ago

There has been no evidence of coronavirus transmission in dental offices since many reopened in May.
Dentists have universal precautions in place to prevent the transmission of any infectious disease.
Oral health has a cascading effect on overall health, so it’s important to keep up with your cleanings and preventive dental care.

Some people might be hesitant to visit the dentist during the coronavirus pandemic, especially after the World Health Organization suggested not to in an August announcement.

However, it’s actually a low-risk activity for the patient, said Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease expert at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security.

“I would be more worried about my dentist than I would myself contracting the virus there,” Adalja told Insider.

Dentists aren’t too concerned either. After the WHO’s recommendation to delay routine dental care in certain situations due to COVID-19, the American Dental Association released a statement saying

Fitness

Is it safe to go to the dentist right now? Here’s what the experts are saying

By Shelton Muro 2 months ago

For months after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the US, dental offices around the country closed their doors. Now that many practices have reopened, the World Health Organization (WHO) is advising people to avoid routine, non-essential dental work until transmission rates drop more.

“WHO advises that routine non-essential oral health care – which usually includes oral health check-ups, dental cleanings, and preventive care – be delayed until there has been sufficient reduction in COVID-19 transmission rates from community transmission to cluster cases,” the warning stated. “The same applies to aesthetic dental treatments. However, urgent or emergency oral health care interventions that are vital for preserving a person’s oral functioning, managing severe pain or securing quality of life should be provided.”

The guidance comes from growing concerns around coronavirus spread through tiny respiratory droplets or aerosols.

“The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 spreads through respiratory droplets. That’s what flies through the air when

Fitness

Stay Safe From the Coronavirus at the Dentist

By Shelton Muro 2 months ago

Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that dentists treat patients only after assessing them for COVID-19 and after weighing the risks of delayed care against the risk of potential viral exposure.

That’s because dental care poses clear infection risks: Dentists and hygienists must work very close to your face and use tools that may spray droplets. “Dental staff will now be wearing additional personal protective equipment, such as face shields, gowns, and masks,” says Chad Gehani, D.D.S., president of the American Dental Association.

Your dental office may also want you to fill out a screening form (asking about recent travel, social interactions, and health history) and do a temperature check prior to an appointment. Some practices may have “virtual check-ins,” where patients wait in their car, sign in for the appointment on their smartphone, and receive a

Fitness

Is it safe to go to the dentist with corona? Yes, COVID rules in place

By Shelton Muro 2 months ago

Mason Motz, 6, was at the dentist’s office to get teeth pulled when Dr. Amy Luedemann-Lazar noticed a different issue: He was tongue-tied.

USA TODAY

Dr. Scott Asnis’ dental office in Bellmore, New York, looks a lot different than it did in February.

Today, after checking in inside – where you and the receptionist are separated by a plastic barrier – you are asked to wait in your car until your dentist is ready to see you.

Once called back, you must don a face mask, while dental technicians take your temperature and have you wash your hands thoroughly. Then they ask that you gargle with a peroxide solution to kill any bacteria inside your mouth.

Once in the chair, technicians at the dental chain he founded, Dental365, will not use the typical tools to clean your teeth. Any aerosols to clean your teeth are not used amid the

Medicine

Colleges Embrace Covid Testing as Key for Safe Returns to Campus

By Shelton Muro 2 months ago

(Bloomberg) — Many universities see Covid-19 testing as the only way to safely bring students back to campuses this fall, but their approaches vary as widely as their mascots.

Some are requiring test results before a student gets to school, others are offering screenings upon arrival. Still others are relying on symptom screening and random surveillance testing. And the lucky ones with their own labs are putting them to work, regularly testing swabs or saliva from those on campus for the novel coronavirus.

The costs of not testing were starkly illustrated by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill this week. The school didn’t require a test before returning and the rate at which results for on-campus tests were coming back positive shot to 13.6% from 2.8% just a week after classes began, bringing the total infected to 135 Tuesday. It canceled in-person classes Monday and is moving most

Fitness

Is It Safe to Go to the Dentist During the Coronavirus Pandemic?

By Shelton Muro 3 months ago

Nearly all dentists and oral surgeons stopped seeing patients at the onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic in March; more than 90% of offices closed, canceling or postponing non-essential dental procedures in the process. Dentists have had concerns about spreading SARS-CoV-2, the respiratory illness that leads to a COVID-19 diagnosis, as they directly work over patients in chairs. Dentists in particular often create vaporized aerosols as they work in patient’s mouths, and infectious droplets like these can quickly spread throughout enclosed spaces like an operating room. But nearly three months later, dentists in all 50 states are in the process of reopening their offices — according to the American Dental Association (ADA) — to resume scheduled treatments for their patients.

Going to the dentist will feel vastly different than it has in the past, with new rules aimed at preventing those who may be unknowingly sick from spreading SARS to

Health

Fauci ‘cautiously optimistic’ of safe vaccine by early winter; Hong Kong delays elections

By Shelton Muro 3 months ago

Dr. Anthony Fauci returns to Capitol Hill on Friday to testify before a special House panel. His testimony comes at a time when early progress on combating COVID-19 seems to have been lost and uncertainty clouds the nation’s path forward.

Also in Washington, the extra $600 in federal unemployment aid that helped many Americans stay afloat amid the coronavirus pandemic is expiring as plans for additional stimulus stalled in a deadlocked Senate.

A new survey shows fewer Americans want to resume daily activities like going to restaurants or sending children to school as cases spike. But as the school year approaches, state officials are releasing guidelines for schools to reopen. Increasingly, teachers are worried about their students’ mental health.

Here are some significant developments:

📈 Today’s numbers: The U.S. has recorded more than 152,000 deaths and over 4.4 million cases of COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have

Fitness

Is It Safe to Go to the Dentist Again?

By Shelton Muro 3 months ago

At Dr. Todd Bertman’s office, the receptionist wears a plastic face shield. So do the hygienist and the nine doctors in the practice in Manhattan’s East Village.

Dr. Bertman reopened the office two weeks ago after closing it in March in response to the coronavirus pandemic. In another change from the past, he has switched from ultrasonic cleaners that spray water and saliva into the air to laser instruments.

The dentists and hygienists wear head-to-toe personal protective equipment that they change between appointments, a time-consuming, awkward ritual that requires them to take off booties, gowns, goggles, masks, gloves and the shields and replace them with clean ones.

“It’s like changing out of a spacesuit,” Dr. Bertman said. “It’s annoying as hell but this is what it kind of comes down to until we find a vaccine.”

As of June 19, every state had allowed dentists’ offices to reopen for all

Medicine

How to stay safe on vacation during the COVID-19 pandemic

By Shelton Muro 3 months ago

How to stay safe on vacation during the pandemic

— Recommendations are independently chosen by Reviewed’s editors. Purchases you make through our links may earn us a commission.

Summer is often the time for road trips, beach vacations, and camping getaways. But amid the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, people are understandably hesitant to travel, even as many states start to lift stay-at-home orders. Despite the fact that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stresses that staying home is the best way to protect both yourself and others from getting sick, more and more people are choosing to get away this season after months in quarantine.

Over the last month, there’s been a surge in rental home reservations, campsite bookings, and even RV rentals. Airbnb says it’s received more bookings from May 17 to June 3 than it did in 2019 while campsites across the country continue to report

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