2020 is ending with some meaningful development in the form of the vaccine. Let's glance back at the challenges experienced by Dentistry.
By Dr Sumaiya Hasan
2020 – A year of buried hopes, notorious challenges and catastrophic impacts due to COVID-19. 2020 is ending with some meaningful development in the form of the vaccine. Let's glance back at the challenges experienced by life on Earth. This includes all health professions, and especially dentistry.
2020 Roundup for Dentistry
2020 initiated just like another usual year. However, as time passed, the problematic situation of pandemic came to light. The lockdowns imposed all around the world, created crucial circumstances for the dental community too. The dental clinics and OPDs shutdown affected the livelihood of clinicians and academicians. The shutdown acted as an insurmountable barrier for the patients seeking dental care.
Adapting the 'new norm'
Despite all the crisis, dental researchers and professionals kept paving the way for the profession's survival and those dependent on it. With cross infection control protocols being strictly applied, emergency dental procedures continued in dental clinics and OPDs, which could afford to have the necessary equipment.
The situation exposed another unfortunate loophole in the dental practice – the negligence of personal protective equipment before pandemic!
Earlier, the infection control protocols in most ways would only be entirely applied if some patient with contagious medical illness had to receive dental treatment. COVID-19 pandemic corrected this practice.
The divide of dentistry in 2020
Just as united as the dental community have been, to achieve the objectives of this prestigious profession, a sheer division has also been observed since the uncertain conditions gripped the nations; a division between two types of dental clinics – those which resumed working as soon as the lockdown eased, and those which regrettably stayed shut due to their lack of investment in appropriate cross infection control equipment. To worsen the situation, a third group continued practising in some areas of the world without any protocols mentioned above. On the other hand, few professionals further improved their practice by investing in necessities that would prevent these places from acting as the centres for disease spread. One such condition included the aerosol extractors. Furthermore, dental health professionals observed modifications in treatment protocols in most practices to limit the aerosol spreading in the environment.
Necessity pushes the need to invent
Dental research relentlessly continued introducing innovative strategies that could support clinical practice in the unprecedented era of COVID. With COVID-19 raging worldwide, humanity perhaps never had such an urgent need for scientific evidence and intervention. There have also been studies published in renowned dental journals, not just innovations, assessing COVID-19 related unemployment of dental professionals and its impact on their insurance coverage. Some publications have also highlighted the utility of saliva as a biofluid in diagnosing and monitoring COVID-19. The evidence presented even during the ambiguous times is not limited, but out of this article's scope.
Hope for dentistry in future
Without a shadow of a doubt, 2020 was a daunting year for dentistry. While it wickedly shattered a few key pillars of the profession, digitalisation played a pivotal role in nullifying some of its catastrophic impacts. Academic classes continued online, and professionals volunteered for teledentistry. The passion of competent dental professionals also allowed them to initiate social media pages through which awareness could be provided to the public regarding oral hygiene.
All in all, humanity dedicated efforts to make the ruinous effects of COVID counterproductive
While the new year brings new hopes with it, let's not forget the lessons. As professionals and students, the pitfalls we observed in our practice and the thoughtful plans which must be framed.
–The author is contributing writer at Dental News Pakistan and can be reached at sumaiya.hasan3@gmail.com
