All Public Health Dental Clinics in Delaware were closed at the beginning of the pandemic and will be shutting down indefinitely, according to NPR's Delaware Public.
The number of dental clinic visits dropped from about 3,500 in 2015 to roughly 1,700 at the onset of the pandemic. Statewide, the number of dental clinics has decreased from 12 to five.
Nick Conte, DMD, director of Delaware's Bureau of Oral Health and Dental Services, said the bureau will continue its mobile Smile Check program in schools and will hopefully be able to eventually use two of the former clinics for oral cancer screenings.
"We've sent letters and reached out to anyone that had been an active patient of ours in the last couple years, and then we'll work with them to place them with a provider in their community," said Dr. Conte.