To protect themselves and their patients from contracting COVID-19, the staff has added surgical caps, face shields and long sleeves to their PPE protocol in addition to the standard face mask they had always worn.
“We used to order just when we needed things, now we order all the time, nonstop,” Michael Davis, DMD, Arbour Family Dental’s owner, told KXLY. “It’s just this game of let’s order, and then it’ll be on back order and then it’ll trickle in as it trickles in.”
Sammy Miller, a dental assistant at the practice, told KXLY she placed PPE orders in May that still had not arrived by late July. She said before the pandemic, orders would usually arrive two or three days after they were placed. She also said the practice has switched from purchasing PPE from one or two suppliers to now sourcing from five or six.
“The prices have kind of gone up like crazy,” Ms. Miller told KXLY. “A thing of wipes used to cost $8.50. Now it’s $20 or $40 for the same box of wipes.”
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