commentary C D A J O U R N A L , V O L 5 0 , Nº 2
Dentistry’s Collective Strength During Unprecedented Times An assessment of organized dentistry’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic in California Richard J. Nagy, DDS
AUTHOR Richard J. Nagy, DDS, a board-certified periodontist and diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology, maintained a private practice in Santa Barbara, Calif., before becoming the director of the postgraduate periodontics residency program and department chairman at the Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System in 2020. He is the former editor of Periodontal Abstracts and past president of the California Society of Periodontists, the Western Society of Periodontology and the California Dental Association. Conflict of Interest Disclosure: None reported
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t was March 7, 2020, and the first California Dental Association Board of Trustees meeting of the year had just been adjourned. The typical business of the association was conducted and plans were laid out for the year ahead; however, it was becoming evident that a probable pandemic was looming. Preparations were underway, and CDA had already formed two COVID-19 workgroups to address the unknowns that were sure to be arising. Soon after that meeting, it felt like all of a sudden, a distant tidal wave came crashing to shore. One of my favorite John Lennon quotes, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans,” meant more in that moment than ever before. CDA’s dentist leaders and professional staff immediately got to work to
address the new events and issues that seemed to come forward daily. There wasn’t an instruction manual to guide dentistry through a pandemic, but it was the collective strength of CDA that helped create solutions. One of the first issues to address in the face of this potentially deadly airborne virus was how to ensure safety in dental offices when very little was known about the virus. Therefore, early on, dental offices were advised to limit patient care to emergencies only for what was thought would just be a few weeks. Then, on March 19, California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an order for “all individuals living in the state of California to stay at home or at their place of residence,” with exceptions for critical service sectors, and soon after, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) FEBRUARY 2 0 2 1
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