The Ontario Dental Association (ODA) says that patients do not need to vaccinated for appointments and check-ups.
In a release, the ODA says that dental care is healthcare, therefore it is available to everyone, regardless of vaccination status. “While the ODA encourages anyone able to get vaccinated to do so to protect themselves from COVID-19, dentists know not everyone can get vaccinated (children, people with medical conditions) and won’t ask if a patient has been vaccinated.” It adds that, dentists strengthened already strict infection prevention standards so they could safely treat everyone throughout the pandemic, even before the COVID-19 vaccine was available.
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Residents may want to know if their dentists and dental hygienists are vaccinated. The ODA says it understands this concern, but according to the Personal Health Information Protection Act, employee medical information is private and they don’t have to disclose their own vaccination status. It does believe that all dental workers should be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, unless they have a valid exemption. The ODA adds that back in January, it also pushed to get dentists, hygienists and dental staff early access to vaccines. Most dentists and their teams got their first shots in April and the majority have been fully vaccinated by now.
The ODA ends by reminding residents that no known cases of COVID-19 have been linked to treatment at an Ontario dental office thanks to all the infection prevention standards in place.
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