Dentists

About 75 percent of patients have been comfortable returning to see the dentist, Rajiv Taneja, DMD, a dentist in Austintown, Ohio, told WBKN-TV.

Dentists nationwide are adding charges to patient bills to pay for the infection control materials needed to safely reopen their practices, according to NBC News.

Delta Dental of Massachusetts will give dental practices assistance in the form of premium credits, funding for essential stock and free access to its card discount plan, according to a June 1 news release.

Only 27 percent of employed dentists reported being paid fully for the week of May 18, compared to 58 percent of dentists reporting paying staff in full, according to an American Dental Association Health Policy Institute biweekly poll.

Eta Products, a company that makes surgical masks with additional protection for dentists' eyes, donated its stock of 20,000 masks to healthcare employees, according to TuftsNow.

Stories about dental offices reopening during the pandemic were the most read in May.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave dentists explicit permission to return to work during a May 31 news conference after they'd been given unclear guidelines for months.

As dental treatment volume increased for the week ending May 10, overall national treatment volume is still at 27 percent of the pre-COVID-19 weekly average, according to a May 19 news release from P&R Dental Strategies and DentalMarketIQ.

Connecticut dentist Rawa Hassan, DDS, reached an $82,500 settlement with the state for overcharging dental procedures and filing claims for operations she never performed, according to Westfair.

South Carolina dental hygiene students' licensure exams are being delayed due to the pandemic, leading them to worry about the trajectory of their future careers.