Hyderabad: A good oral hygiene is the most basic requirement for preventing oral diseases. Even while the pandemic is on a growth curve, post lockdown has seen many dental clinics reopening.
Yet, there is a cloud of uncertainty. As on August 26, 2020, there are 3.17 million COVID positive cases in India, while the world over it affects more than 200 countries. The route infection takes to travel is via respiratory droplets. This makes dental clinics most susceptible to such an infection.
Most dental clinics are focusing efforts on rebuilding patients’ trust. As this is the only factor that will help them achieve the desired footfalls. The new normal requires drastic changes in terms of transparency, quality of treatment, use of state-of-the-art technology and strict hygiene protocols.
An oral condition, if left untreated, can be nerve-wracking. “I got my oral filling done recently of 3 of my teeth and scheduled my further treatments,” says Arun Kumar Ganesan, a resident of Shaikpet, Hyderabad. After an online consultation, Arun was convinced about getting the suggested treatment done.
“I consulted Dr Sadaf of Shaikpet branch, a young energetic doctor who is very polite and soft-spoken. She diagnosed well and explained in detail regarding the critical issues and the immediate actions required. The clinic was fully clean and hygienic. Everyone was provided with enough PPE and they follow all safety procedures,” he added.
The pandemic has severely disrupted the oral health industry around the globe. India is no exception. The pandemic has taken a toll on the financial health of all private medical facilities, including that of dentists. A FICCI-EY study, in March itself, when the lockdown began, revenue losses of up to 70% were suffered. Further extension of lockdown was not going to improve things financially. The study had predicted a timeframe of three quarters for things to come down to normal. There has been a growing fear that dental clinics can easily pass on the virus to the patients.
Clove Dental’s Chief Clinical Officer, Lt Gen Dr Vimal Arora says, “From day one of the lockdown, our focus has been to ensure Safety for our patients at all the 350 Clove clinics. On March 20th, we closed most of our clinics across the country. When most dentists closed their clinics and were unavailable, we did not abandon our patients. We kept 1-2 clinics open in each zone, to treat emergencies undertaking complete precautions. Next step was to launch ‘eDentist@Clove’, a teledentistry platform, to cater to our patients’ pain and offer them remedies at home. Further steps were undertaken to ensure complete safety of our doctors and staff and we launched concise guidelines and a massive training program for all to adopt the ‘new normal’, the 10x safety protocols.”
“All doctors were trained in 10x safety protocols and all surgeries were equipped with the latest gadgetry available in the world. Next step was to identify new equipment and techniques to reduce the viral load in the surgery, making it as safe as it can be. We deployed high-end safety equipment like Aerosol Suction & Decontamination Units (ASDU) and Constant Fumigation Devices (CFD), in all clinics. Our ‘10x safety protocols’ encompass safety measures at each touchpoint even before a patient enters our Clinic. We are keeping ourselves abreast of the developments across the globe to make sure that we have the most recent for our patients’ safety” added Dr Arora.
Dr Mahender Azad, Clinical Director Hyderabad adds “We undertake ‘triage’ for all patients and make sure that there is adequate spacing between the appointments to reduce patients in waiting areas. In addition, we have very advanced equipment and enhanced 10XSafety protocols, providing all array of dental treatments from fillings to root-canals to dental implants. With ASDU (Aerosol Suction and Decontamination Unit), CFD (Constant Fumigation Device), modified treatment modalities and most comprehensive PPE, each Clove clinic provides a completely safe and sterile environment.”
As the pandemic in India, continues to spread its wings, people in urban areas are expecting higher standards of treatment quality and hygiene from there dental visits. While it will take a long time to restore trust back, the way services are delivered is going to play a critical factor.
