Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed an executive order March 23 that prevents dental practices from performing surgeries and treatments that aren’t emergencies through April 13. This has left many dental professionals stuck at home.
As of March 23, more than 9,000 people have signed the petition on change.org titled “Consider using licensed dental professionals to support hospital physicians and nurses!”
“In this dire time, when our hospital workers are possibly overwhelmed, why not consider deploying licensed dental professionals to our hospital to help with screenings and basic tasks within their skill set and reserving the skills of our doctors and nurses for more important and specialized care,” the petition reads.
In the meantime, dentists are asking patients to contact them for any dental emergencies rather than go to the emergency room.
More articles on dental:
Louisiana dental offices postpone non-emergency treatment until April 16
U of Iowa dental student tests positive for COVID-19, patient alerted
Here’s what dentists have to say about practice shutdowns amid the outbreak
