Keep moving forward
Initial planning at the start of the COVID-19 emergency has given way to longer-term strategies. The Chicago Dental Society will continue to provide helpful information and resources during this new phase for dental practices so CDS members emerge stronger and prepared for what’s ahead.
We urge you to email us at [email protected] with questions you'd like answered and we will do our best to address them.
Please keep in mind that information is changing hourly and daily. CDS will update its website by 9 a.m., Monday – Friday, so you have the most current information to meet this unprecedented challenge to our profession and nation.
Updated October 23, 2020
Questions about dental patient safety amid COVID-19?
We have answers! CDS.org/safety
COVID-19 Webinars
Times are Central Time Zone
CDS Webinars
- COVID-19: CDC & OSHA Guidance (originally presented by Jackie Dorst, RDH, on May 14, 2020) Download handout
- Human Resources Questions and the Business Impact of COVID-19 in Illinois (originally presented April 30, 2020)
ADA Webinars
- Selling your practice in the COVID-19 era: Advice from accounting experts (on demand)
- ADA offers online course to review Return to Work toolkit
- Archived ADA COVID-19 Webinars
Latest News
- 75% of U.S. struggling with virus case surge
- HHS open new round of PPP application funding
- Illinois reports new COVID-19 cases near 5,000, 44 new deaths
Chicago Dental Society Updates
CDS in the News
CDS president, members respond to COVID-19 pandemic in various media articles, broadcasts
CDS Review Stories
- Uneasy Feeling: Economy, civic unrest and pandemic strain dentists’ mental health (September/October 2020)
- To Sell or Not To Sell: Following COVID-19, dentists face big decision on their futures (July/August 2020)
- Practice Smarts: Teledentistry may greatly improve access to care (July/August 2020)
- Snap Shots: Muslim dentists set up hotline during shutdown (July/August 2020)
- On Hold: COVID-19 crisis leaves career plans in a state of flux (May/June 2020)
- Scam Alert: Be wary of unsolicited help (May/June 2020)
- Practice Smarts: In scary times it is best to be proactive to reassure your patients (May/June 2020)
What CDS Members Are Talking About
- Dr. Lynse Briney: Preparing kids for their next dental appointment (July 22, 2020)
- CDS President Terri Tiersky discusses the reopening of dental practices: Associated Press (June 24, 2020)
- CDS Leaders provide Guidance for Reopening Chicago
- Dr. Eric Jackson: Navigating the Coronavirus Crisis (June 11, 2020)
- Dr. Larry Williams: Keeping Patients Safe in the COVID-19 Era (June 2, 2020)
- Dr. Larry Williams: Essential Steps to Prepare for the Reopening of Dental Offices (May 12, 2020)
- Dr. Sherece Thompson: Ways to Maintain Good Oral Health While Dental Offices are Closed (May 5, 2020)
Additional CDS Updates & News
- Watch a conversation about COVID-19 with CDS President, Dr. Terri Tiersky and UIC Dean, Dr. Clark Stanford
- Stay Strong and Determined: CDS President Terri Tiersky
- Dr. Terri Tiersky has spearheaded a PPE donation drive to aid first-responders at UIC
PPE Resources
- Severe PPE supply shortages continuing
- Breathing exercises to help with PPE gear
- IHFS says increased PPE costs can’t be passed on to Medicaid participants
- Tips to prevent PPE overheating
- Waukegan firm offers to decontaminate N95 masks free
- FDA-authorized respirators listed
- To report PPE shortages to the FDA, email [email protected]
- NIOSH-approved filtering facial respirators provided
- 3M offers FAQ on respirator protection
- Best practices offered for using facial masks
- CDC offers strategies to preserve PPE
Practice Recovery Resources
- Roger Levin offers Part 3 of COVID-19 recovery strategies
- How to attract, keep dental team members during pandemic
- Provider Relief Fund open for next round of funding
- Some private insurers to stop waiving co-pays for telehealth visits Oct. 1
- HHS announces Provider Relief Fund reporting requirements
- Employee temperature checks: a guideline
- Part 2 of practice recovery strategies: Dr. Roger Levin
- How to overcome 'pandemic plateau' at your practice
- Dentists’ silver lining in the pandemic: industry insider sees hope
- Dental informed consent forms: Five things to know
- Tips for business operations: Roger Levin
- FDA OKs rapid $5 virus test that doesn’t need special equipment
- Tips for hiring for your practice during the pandemic
- Flexible staffing best strategy for COVID-19
- As schools, dental offices reopen, masks and other PPE still hard to obtain
- MIT develops reusable mask that works like a N95
- Office script can help prepare for questions on WHO news
- Why are dentists struggling to fill clinical jobs?
- Dental HR experts has latest CARES Act updates
- Resiliency should guide practice response to pandemic
- In pandemic, it’s crucial to ‘bring the team back together’
- 24-month recovery strategies from Dr. Roger Levin
- How the CARES emergency paid sick leave law affects your practice
- Guidance for applying for HHS provider relief funds; deadline Aug. 3
- Staff furlough v. layoff: Dental Economics explains the differences
- IRS has guidance on sick leave requirements under CARES Act
- Q&A on 2020 insurance trends
- Returning to work protocols for symptomatic healthcare professionals
- Full forgiveness for self-employed PPP borrowers, SBA rules
- Tips for navigating medical, dental insurance billing
- How PPP, ‘Families First’ programs affect re-staffing decisions
- IDPH has guidelines on business health, safety
- CDC updates guidance for dental practices planning to reopen
Business Concerns
- HR firm explores who pays for employee COVID-19 testing
- How to develop a post-pandemic financial plan for dental office
- How dental practice valuations have changed since COVID-19
- SBA updates guidance for PPP program
- COVID-19 codes added to CDT
- HHS extends Provider Relief Fund deadline to Aug. 28
- Employers can’t require virus antibody testing of workers: EEOC
- IHFS makes temporary change to prior authorization requirements
- Insurance-related strategies shared by insider
- IRS to allow midyear changes to insurance, FSAs
- SBA releases more info on PPP forgiveness rules
- HR experts discuss high-risk employees, liability waivers
- Coronavirus points to new approach for insurance contracts
Office Risks
- Hu-Friedy tips for containing dental aerosols
- FDA clears rapid COVID-19 test
- What dentists should know about remdesivir interactions
- COVID-19 concerns may undermine flu vaccine rates
- Airborne spread of coronavirus explained
- OSHA fines dental practice for violating virus respiratory protections
- Hu-Freidy details best practices for aerosol management
- Pine Sol gets OK to kill coronavirus on surfaces
- Study finds COVID-19 patients can produce aerosols beyond 6-feet range
- Dr. Gordon Christensen details infection control steps for dental offices
- Researchers say adding polymers to water may prevent aerosol mists
- Some dentists look to hypochlorous acid to sterilize treatment rooms
- Which mouthwash inactivated COVID-19 the best?
- Plastic covers could help with infection control
- 3 tips for improving office air quality
- WHO advises against routine dental work in COVID-19 hotspots, citing aerosol unknowns
- New website promotes methods to reduce aerosols in dental treatments
- Tips for improving air circulation at the office
- Supply shortages hinder state plans to expand virus testing
- Study indicates how to prep teeth without using sprays
- PVP-1 rinse, throat spray kill 99% of SARS-CoV-2 in seconds
- UConn researchers say oral rinse can inactivate COVID-19 virus
- Accuracy of virus tests still unknown
- Water line maintenance key in infection control
- How to avoid scams, fraud during pandemic
- ADA cautions dentists to study sanitation products’ claims carefully
- A better way to disinfect surfaces?
- COVID-19 and the problem with dental aerosols
- Unreliable COVID-19 test kits being marketed to dentists
- Infection control guidance
- OSHA has developed guidance to help identify risk levels in workplace settings in response to COVID-19
Students/New Dentists Resources
- Pandemic pushes transition to non-patient licensure
- Researchers seeks dental students’ pandemic stories
- Banker advises furloughed New Dentist on stabilizing finances
- Mundelein New Dentist: ‘We need to create a new normal’
- Illinois expands debt relief measures to private student loans
- Testing agencies moving to non-patient exams for dental licensing
- ADA Member Advantage sponsors offer banking, loan support
- Student loan repayment during uncertain times (webinar originally broadcast April 2, 2020)
- Temporary relief for student loan borrowers
- FAQ with guidance on student loans amid the COVID-19 crisis
- ASDA Guidance for Students
ADA Resources
- ADA voluntary polling finds dentists may increase fees, exit field in wake of pandemic
- ADA limited study indicates less than 1% of U.S. dentists contracted COVID-19
- ADA adds virus testing in-office guidance to toolkit
- HPI poll reveals virus fallout as dental Medicaid providers disenroll
- Dentists should be offered early access to COVID-19 vaccine: ADA
- Nearly all dental offices open by mid-July
- ADA disputes WHO advice to postpone nonessential dental treatment
- ADA has answers about the Provider Relief Fund
- ADA updates Return to Work toolkit
- ADA releases Hazard Assessment guide
- ADA has tips on extending use of N95 masks
- ADA charts explains Sars-CoV-2 diagnostic test options
- ADA urges Medicaid, CHIP providers to apply for HHS relief funding
- ADA launches Patient Communication Resource Center
- ADA encourages CHIP, Medicaid providers to apply for HHS funding
- ADA guidance on testing employees for antibodies, antigens
- ADA weighs in on change in CDC waiting period change
- ADA asks that tariffs be suspended for needed pandemic supplies
- How will COVID-19 affect access to care for vulnerable populations? ADA video
- Three questions to ask yourself if COVID-19 has you wondering about selling practice
- ADA distributing KN95 masks to dentists in states facing low supplies
- Updated CDC dental setting guidance echoes ADA guidance
- Steps to take if a patient later reports positive for COVID-19
- ADA provides COVID-19 contract tracing explanation
- ADA updates toolkit with patient interaction guidance
- Understanding the dental practice in the pandemic age
- ADA launches ‘Return to Work Toolkit’ interim guidance
- ADA has guidance for contract negotiations in anticipation of higher costs
- ADA offers interim guidance as states consider reopening economies
- ADA presses feds to let dentists test patients for COVID-19 before treatment
- Video-conferencing, teledentistry risks spelled out in ADA fact sheet
- ADA fact sheet on Paycheck Protection Program
- ADA has released updated employment law guidance
- A breakdown on recommendations and mandates on dental practices state-by-state
- COVID-19 Resources for dentists
- ADA has released COVID-19 coding and billing guidance
Health/Well-being Resources
- NIH reports Remdesivir shortens virus recovery time
- People with O blood type may have lower threat of virus infection
- Cracked teeth, hair loss among pandemic stress symptoms
- Loss of taste, smell may be only early signs of COVID-19
- Sufficient Vitamin D levels may ward off severe virus effects
- NIH to expand trails of convalescent plasma against virus
- Anti-inflammatory drug may shorten virus recovery time
- Virus outbreak could worsen as colder months approach, experts warn
- What might COVID-19 vaccinations mean for the dental practice
- Poll finds two-thirds of Americans will not get vaccine when first available
- Depression, anxiety spike during pandemic
- How to prepare for flu season – and a potential second wave
- Kids can carry virus in noses, throats for weeks
- Pandemic leading to dental team stress, fatigue
- Flu vaccination more important this fall: WHO
- Immune cells for common cold may recognize COVID-19
- Pandemic taking toll on mental health
- Most Americans won’t be able to receive vaccine until mid-2021
- Update on three leading vaccine candidates
- Promising convalescent plasma studies slowed by focus on other trials
- Pandemic could worsen racial disparities in oral health
- What to expect if COVID-19 treatment takes you to the hospital
- FDA gives emergency OK for virus test of asymptomatic people
- Many COVID-19 survivors experience long-lasting symptoms
- 40% of U.S. adults at risk of severe COVID-19 illness
- Dental Mental Network provides mental health help
- Symptom tracker reveals 6 distinct types of COVID-19
- Virus antibodies may only last a few months for those with mild cases
- Does oral bacteria play a role in virus severity?
- Deaths rates 12 times higher for patients with preexisting conditions
- Should you get tested? What to consider
- Vitamin D’s role in virus case severity
- Who gets access to the virus first?
- Researchers warn some tests give false assurance of negative results
- Experts foresee second wave of pandemic
Illinois Updates
- Illinois may enlist dentists to give COVID-19 vaccine
- Illinois adds counties, including Cook, to virus warning list
- Illinois among states meeting testing targets
- Illinois opens community COVID-19 testing sites to everyone
- Gov. Pritzker unveils phased, regional reopening plans
- Delta Dental Foundation donates to ISDS Foundation to provide care during pandemic
- FAQ on human resources, insurance and financial relief
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- CDC updates ‘close contact’ guidance for virus exposure
- CDC revises guidelines again on aerosol spread of COVID-19 virus
- CDC tells states to ready for vaccine distribution
- New CDC guidelines on virus testing ‘puzzle’ doctors
- CDC removes 2-week quarantine recommendation for travelers returning from overseas
- CDC updates guidance for dental practices
- Self-isolate for 10 days after positive virus test: CDC update
- Virus cases rising among kids, teens: CDC
- CDC urges Americans to wear masks to fight COVID-19
- CDC expands list of people most at risk of COVID-19
- CDC reclassifies those at high risk of catching virus
- CDC updates its dental care guidance
- CDC estimates 35% of virus patients show no symptoms
-
CDC reports on ‘superspreader,’ stresses need for distancing, self-reporting
- CDC reports new symptoms of COVID-19
- CDC chief says 25% of infected people may be asymptomatic
- Air, floor samples in CDC study show rampant virus contamination
- Interim Infection Prevention and Control Guidance for Dental Settings
- Interim planning guidance for businesses
- Healthcare providers with potential exposure to COVID-19
- Strategies for optimizing PPE supplies
Additional Information & Resources
- World Health Organization – International updates
- CDC – National updates
- State of Illinois – State updates
- City of Chicago – City updates
- Chicago Public Schools updates
- Chicago Park District updates
- Illinois Department of Public Health – State updates from Dept. of Health
- Ask Dr. Arwady – Ask Chicago Commissioner of Public Health questions at 11 a.m. any day on Twitter.
- Governor’s Daily Press Conferences – The Governor live streams daily press conferences usually at 2:30 p.m.
- American Dental Association
- Illinois State Dental Society
- ISDS petitions governor for reopening guidelines, access to PPE