IADR/AADR Define Essential Oral Healthcare During COVID-19

The start of the COVID-19 pandemic was marked by the closure of American dental practices except for emergency care. Their subsequent reopening for the full range of dental services and seemingly low rate of COVID-19 transmission beg the question, “What is essential oral healthcare?” The International Association for Dental Research (IADR)/American Association for Dental Research (AADR) attempt to address this important query in a new paper “Pandemic Considerations on Essential Oral Healthcare.” The authors present a layered approach that incorporates emergency and traditional dental care with advanced and specialty services. While they suggest essential oral healthcare should encompass treatment of the most common dental problems, the use of a layered model enables the classification and prioritization of oral health needs that also considers availability of resources. The authors assert that oral healthcare must be accepted as a key facet of healthcare services. Read more here.