COVID-19 Info

Updates to the Expectations and Pathways for Patient Care document and the Consent Forms

The ADA&C has made the following adjustments to the Expectations and Pathways for Patient Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic document:

– Aerosol Generating Medical Procedures (AGMPs) are now Aerosols Generating Procedures (AGPs), page 6
– Definition of Scrubs: Scrubs include clinical attire not worn outside the practice, page 7
– Clarity on PPE for Reception/Front office staff, Table 2, page 7
– Link to CDC article on evidence for Level 3 masks with a face shield, page 8
– Updates to questions 4 and 7 of the pre-appointment screening questions to address health care workers wearing appropriate PPE, pages 9 and 14

The Patient and Staff Consent Forms have been updated. These forms are templates and may be modified for your practice as you see fit.

CDA Update

The CDA update dated May 22 contains useful information on the Federal subsidy programs, PPE and more Click here to read the full update.

Member Communications

As we settle into Stage 1 of the Alberta Relaunch, the ADA&C will return to communicating bi-weekly with the mini-Update emails and sending out e-Advisories for important/urgent updates. The first mini-Update will go out to members on Wednesday, June 3 via the standard email delivery methods.

We thank all of our members for being actively engaged with the almost daily e-Advisory communications during the last few months.

Alberta Dental Association and College Members,

It has been a little over a week since the Chief Medical Officer and the Premier of Alberta announced that Alberta was ready to proceed with Stage 1 of the Relaunch Strategy. In that time many of you have begun to expand the services that you are offering to your patients. I have had people express how pleased they are to return to their dentists’ office for care.

I want to thank the membership for the patience they showed while the COVID Response Team worked on developing documents to guide us back to a full range of services. I believe we struck a favourable balance between safety of the dental team and our patients while still allowing affordable access to care.

I appreciate that the vast majority of our members continues to exercise good clinical judgement as we return to full practice. They are looking after the well being of their teams. I further appreciate the understanding that is being shown to our assistants and hygienists that are regulated under different colleges. While there are some small differences in the requirements to return to full scope of practice, I am confident that ADA&C members will work with their teams to keep them in compliance and feeling safe at work.

As a reminder, Canadian employers whose business has been affected by COVID-19, may be eligible for a subsidy of 75% of employee wages for up to 24 weeks, retroactive from March 15, 2020, to August 29, 2020. The Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy will enable you to re-hire workers previously laid off as a result of COVID-19, help prevent further job losses, and better position you to resume normal operations following the crisis.

It has been a long journey to get to this point. It has required a spirit of cooperation at all levels of government, with a range of regulatory bodies and with the public. The journey is not over. I am confident that as we continue to work together with all stakeholders we will be able to provide the highest possible  level oral healthcare to Albertans. Thank you for being a part of that service.

Dr. Troy Basarab
President

Facial Esthetic Therapies are currently prohibited

Personal services, such as neuromodulator use for cosmetic purposes, are prohibited until Stage 2 of Alberta’s relaunch strategy, available at https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-relaunch-strategy.aspx. CMOH Order O7 at section 10 defines personal service as “for the primary purpose of enhancing, preserving or altering the person’s appearance”.

Therapeutic Botox treatments would not fall within this definition.