Coronavirus: What you need to know

PROVIDERS: See our continued guidance to dental providers

Updated March 20, 2020

ODS Community Dental understands the disruption and uncertainty resulting from coronavirus (COVID-19) and would like to share resources to keep you informed.

On March 19, the State of Oregon mandated that all dental professionals suspend and postpone all elective and non-urgent oral health procedures until June 15 for the purpose of conserving and redirecting personal protective equipment (PPE) state’s COVID-19 emergency response. 

Prioritization will focus on treatment for patients experiencing dental emergencies, as defined by the American Dental Association (ADA):

Dental emergency
Dental emergencies are potentially life threatening and require immediate treatment to stop ongoing tissue bleeding, alleviate severe pain or infection, and include:  

• Uncontrolled bleeding
• Cellulitis or a diffuse soft tissue bacterial infection with intra-oral or extra-oral swelling that potentially compromise the patient’s airway
• Trauma involving facial bones, potentially compromising the patient’s airway 

Urgent dental care 
Urgent dental care focuses on the management of conditions that require immediate attention to relieve severe pain and/or risk of infection and to alleviate the burden on hospital emergency departments. These should be treated as minimally invasive as possible.  

• Severe dental pain from pulpal inflammation 
• Pericoronitis or third-molar pain 
• Surgical post-operative osteitis, dry socket dressing changes 
• Abscess, or localized bacterial infection resulting in localized pain and swelling. 
• Tooth fracture resulting in pain or causing soft tissue trauma 
• Dental trauma with avulsion/luxation 
• Dental treatment required prior to critical medical procedures 
  
  

You can find more information regarding these announcements by  visiting the ADA and the Oregon Dental Association (ODA) websites.

We recommend also visiting the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) websites for more information and treatment guidelines related to COVID-19.

We also want to assure you that we are dedicated to business continuity during the outbreak. We have a large number of employees across the organization that work from home on a full or part-time basis and have increased that capacity. We are fully operational and are committed to processing claims in a timely manner. Customer service is available during our regular scheduled hours