We are now beginning to recover from containment measures for COVID-19. Dentists havefinally arisen from the ashes.

Finally, weare ready to treat our patients. But are patients ready to step into yourclinic?

Having gone down to Level 1 restrictions, dentistsare beginning to revert to their usual practice routine.

Yet, the battle against coronavirus continues. We are nownot only dealing with the Coronavirus itself, but the fear of contacting thevirus.

It’s good that you monitor the patient’s temperature, ask them about their recent travels, and ask whether or not theyare experiencing any symptoms.

Conducting solution storage before washing,primary washing, secondary ultrasonic washing, drying, sealing, and autoclavingis the standard procedure, but people now understand that Coronavirus driftsthrough the air in microscopic droplets.

A recently published study inthe New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA has found that when the virusbecomes suspended in droplets can stay suspended for about a half an hourbefore settling on surfaces where it can linger for hours1,2.

The World Health Organizationstands by the notion that virus is not transported by air. But, who knows who’sright.

Why would people walk aroundwith masks still on?

With this in mind, how wouldpatients, especially those in the vulnerable group, enter a clinic where acarrier for Coronavirus could have potentially visited? How will you assureyour patients that your clinic is Coronavirus-free?

Taking an example from SouthKorea, over 500 public hospitals and dental clinics have installedair-disinfectants (different from your Dyson Air purifiers!) to ensure areasremain virus-free.

This gives reassurance toboth clinicians and workers in working within a safe environment.

So, does your patient knowthat your clinic is safe?

1. Ong SWX, Tan YK, Chia PY, et al.Air, Surface Environmental, and Personal Protective Equipment Contamination bySevere Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus

2. (SARS-CoV-2) From a SymptomaticPatient. JAMA. 2020;323(16):1610–1612. 2. Anfinrud P, Stadnytskyi V, Bax CE,Bax A. Visualizing speech-generated oral fluid droplets with laser lightscattering. N Engl J Med 2020;382:2061-2062.