Letter sent to Dr. Paul Farmer, Founder: Partners in Health
Partners in Health website: please support this amazing nonprofit focused on global care of all
Dear Ms. Kralievits and Dr. Farmer,
Thank you for the time to read my email. The issue is large and pervasive but I’ll try and keep it brief.
I am a dental hygienist in California and like all dental staff, I’m alarmed and seemingly helpless in effecting safeguards and oversight in community spread of Covid19.
Dental staff, licensed and otherwise in early May, were given the ultimatum of return to work amid compelling evidence urging caution in providing non urgent dental care, or find other work.
From the ADA, CDA and individual practicing dentist’s we were assured that safeguards and tracing would be followed. It is now August and the community impact of Covid19 bring tears to my eyes. Areas more densely populated, lower socio economic classes and minorities are being effected in far greater numbers. Many offices accept state funded dental insurance with reimbursement of care so low that following safety protocols make practice profit run into the negative. So it has been practice as usual with little to no change. In addition the ADA, CDA and CDC provide advisement for the public health orders on a state and county level. End result, there are no mandates or requirements placed on dentist’s, only suggestions.
Dental staff have formed Facebook groups sharing their disbelief of the blatant disregard to public safety. The cases linked to dental care that have affected staff and patients pour in daily on posts. Employees that dare speak out publicly are quickly gaslighted by dentists and their professional organization. News media clips with dental office tours and statements from local health officers all resonate the same, It’s safe to return to routine care make sure and see your dentist for a cleaning.
In our attempt to preserve the integrity of the dental profession as a whole, we have tried to cultivate collaboration unsuccessfully and awaited to hear of our impact in data collected over time.
That time was today, after six months of likely exposure that even the ADA stated in a letter to the HHS on April 17th that dental settings presented a unique and ‘very high exposure risk’ to patients and staff, the state of California Department of Public Health and my local department admitted they are not tracking dental related cases AND they are allowing individually owned dental offices to oversee and decide if reporting cases of employee or patients positive COVID-19 is necessary!
I am unsure how to even end this, other than, please help us help. We have no union to speak for us, our local and state health officers are complacent, the dental hygiene association and dental board lay so closely together there is no voice there. All are being effected but the nature of our healthcare system will allow this oversight to harm our lower income and underserved disproportionately.
With much respect, be well