The Irish Dental Association has requested an urgent meeting with Minister for Health Simon Harris, saying widespread closures of dental practices are “inevitable” during the Covid-19 crisis. “In other countries, dental practices have scaled down services on the instructions of relevant authorities but we have had no clear, unambiguous guidance from either the Dental Council or the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) as to the current crisis”. A statement from the HSE suggested that at least some specific advice had been issued to dentists. A spokeswoman said “guiding principles” were in place for dentists, including reducing footfall, improving social distancing and the use of supplies of personal protective equipment. The HSE said dental services were recommended to use guidance to “phasedown” clinical activity through a series of steps, while keeping patients and staff safe.

Source: The Irish Times March 16, 2020 20:48 UTC