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By Veronica Beltran

Dentists return

‘I think the public can feel very safe going to the dentist,’: Moving into Phase Two

May 22, 2020 | 3:11 PM

PRINCE GEORGE—Are you eager to clean your pearly whites? Well you may be able to now, seeing that Phase Two of B.C.’s Restart Plan allows dentists to resume seeing their regular patients.

One local dentist says that the public should feel safe going to the dentist as they are taking measures to ensure the public and staff’s safety.

“We will not be seeing as many patients, per hour, as we did before.”—Dr. Richard Wilczek, local Dentist

Dr. Wilczek says that as there are no clear guidelines for dentists to follow to the tee, things may operate differently from dentist to dentist.

For his office, less patients will be seen daily in order to provide more time for enhanced cleaning of the facility, a screening process will be in place; clients and staff will have to ensure they are not feeling sick, have not been in contact with anyone who has been sick or has had COVID-19, in order to proceed.

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“I think the public can feel very safe in going to the dentist.”—Dr. Richard Wilczek, local Dentist

“The first big pandemic that we went through—that I went through as a clinician was HIV/AIDS. That was probably a bigger scare, or as big a scare, and dentistry was not shown to be a factor in the transmission of that disease. And in all other infections, there is no evidence that it’s been a factor of disease,” said Wilczek to us in an on-camera interview.

The wait room at his office has gone down from several chairs to only four—to help with physical distancing. Wilczek says that they are also trying to find appropriate Personal Protective Equipment for when they may need it, however, says it isn’t an easy job.

“Everybody is scrambling to get masks.”—Dr. Richard Wilczek, local Dentist

He says that his office is lucky as they were stocked adequately with some PPE, before the pandemic was declared. The PPE will be donned only when it’s deemed appropriate to, such as situations where “extra mess” is produced. That may mean gearing up in gowns, and face shields as well.

Wilczek’s office did a soft launch earlier this week in preparation of resuming in today’s “new normal,” next week.