I had a dental checkup yesterday. During the cleaning, I asked the long-time dental hygienist to talk about the situation when sick patients (with colds or viruses) come for treatment.
She started off by saying that most patients reschedule their appointments when they are sick, but that some arrive sick, and her first concern (as I described someone coughing and sneezing a lot) was to adjust the position of the chair to help the patient be more comfortable so that fluids could drain properly. I asked if she had ever gotten sick from one her patients, and she said it probably had happened. She talked about the old days before gloves and face shields. She said that infection can usually be avoided if one takes precautions (like not touching an arm with the glove). She also said that she thinks that dental practitioners build up an immunity over time.
I like to do “normal” every now and then on the blog.
Why, this could have been a monologue on the old “Lum and Abner” show!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SfFanDr5mw
Doc,
Did you ask your dentist if she was ever covered in blood after working on a patient?
Well, it just goes to show things can ALWAYS be worse. It’s gone from just plain Orly to blood-covered Orly. I don’t want to think about what’s next. Oh, wait, maybe I do…ZOMBORLY!!!
I was at the dentist last week and asked him the same thing. He says that, if someone arrives obviously sick, they reschedule and send them home. He says most people will call themselves to reschedule if they’re sick — who wants to have a dentist in your mouth when you can’t breathe through your nose?
I also asked him if he had ever worked on patients when he was sick with a cold or something. Never.
I hadn’t heard that Dr. Orally had much to do in Kansas…
Kansas Rebels,”Going to see Sarah Palin would be the equivalent of having your teeth cleaned.”