Transcription

Narrator:
You're watching Fox 26 News, your station for life.

Anchor:
Dental offices have been open since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak for emergencies anyway, but now routine services are allowed, but should you go? A lot of decisions need to go into that. If you should wait a little while, maybe it's time now. Here's Dr. Spiker Davis with some suggestions.

Dr. Spiker Davis:
Number one, we want to screen all of our patients, because obviously if they have a fever or they have problems, health problems, diabetes, all those kinds of issues, unless it's an emergency, they probably ought to stay home. And so we're screening all of our patients before they ever come to ask all those questions. Do you have a fever? Do you have a cough? Have you been exposed? All those kinds of questions. Are you having any health complications, such as asthma, diabetes, heart issues? All those things, because if they're having those, unless it's an emergency, let's stay home. Let's wait a while. We don't want to expose them to anything. They need to be home.

Anchor:
All right. And then what about for the moment that they come in that door, then what happens? Because I understand you are wearing a lot of gear to make sure both people are safe, your patient and your colleagues.

Dr. Spiker Davis:
Well, that's the plan. We want to stay safe. I don't want to get it. They don't want to get it. So we're all trying to dodge it. So the first thing we do when they walk in the door, we re-ask them, "Hey, how are you feeling? Everything's still okay?" Then we have one of those, the thermometer thing, where we can take their temperature and find out if they have a temperature right here at the office. And so assuming they pass all of those, okay, come on back and we'll take a look. Meanwhile, even the building is requiring that you come in with your mask on. So they come in with a mask on, we check their temperature. Then we go into our little treatment room and find out how we can help.

Anchor:
Perfect. So tell me about the mask. So you're talking like a full gear, not just a tiny mask, right?

Dr. Spiker Davis:
Yes. Well, there's so many recommendations out there from CDC and ADA and all these people, and some of them disagree. So I'm following what the American Dental Association recommends, the Texas Dental and a little bit of CDC, but basically I'm going to have glasses, safety glasses. And then I have a second pair of glasses that I put over that. And then on top of that, we've got a mask and you've seen all the masks, so you know about that. So we have one mask and it's an N95, which is the best you can get. And then we put a surgical mass on top of that, so I've got two masks, two glasses and then a shield over my face. So to prevent me from getting anything on them or vice versa, I'm covered.

Anchor:
You're completely covered. How do you even see out of all that?

Dr. Spiker Davis:
Well, it's getting harder, but the worst part's the breathing. Oh my gosh. You got two masks on there. Goodness, it's tough. But, we're making it and we do what we got to do and it's going to work.

Anchor:
And do you feel like that's what most dentists in the Houston area are doing, something similar to that?

Dr. Spiker Davis:
I think most dentists are doing something similar. I'm not sure most dentists are wearing two masks or two glasses, but I think almost all dentists are... they have to be wearing one mask and a shield because that's what the ADA and the TDA and all those people are recommending. So, sure.

Anchor:
All right. And then you say you really believe that it is a lot safer to go to your dentist than just to go to the grocery store, which we've pretty much all been doing.

Dr. Spiker Davis:
Well, sure. We all go to the grocery store or we go to the big box stores or whatever. And at least now in Houston, most people are wearing a mask, but every once in a while, I'll still run into somebody that's not wearing a mask. And then you're walking down the aisle and you bump into that guy. Did anybody check his temperature? Does he wear an N95 mask? Of course not. So to me, I feel a lot safer in the dental office, and that's what my patients are telling me. Oh my gosh, I see all this stuff you're wearing. And they're all telling me, "I feel much safer here than anywhere in public." So great. That's what we want.

Anchor:
All right. We sure appreciate all that advice from Dr. Davis. Now here's another big piece of advice that he highly suggests to all of his patients. He tells them because so many germs can come into your mouth, and that's one of the number one ways people are getting COVID-19, he suggests rinsing your mouth with Listerine because it does have alcohol in it. He also says rinse your toothbrush in it every single time and whatever you do, don't share your toothbrush with anyone. Good to know and to remember.