The College of Dental Surgeons of BC have released an update to their COVID-19 Oral Healthcare guidelines, and includes new information and guidance on how to best continue dental care during the pandemic. It is a comprehensive document that covers topics such as ongoing pandemic best practices, personal protective equipment, and infection prevention and control principles and strategies. Key updates include:

• Revised patient and staff screening protocols
• Increased detail related to screening for suspected or confirmed COVID-19 positive patients and patients vulnerable for severe expression of COVID-19
• Updated personal protective equipment (PPE) for patients and providers (including a table outlining PPE by procedure and COVID-19 status of patient)
• Precautions for patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19

You can read the entire interactive PDF here.

In addition to the new guideline document, CDSBC has also released a comparison docment that shows the changes that have occurred between their first guidelines from May 15 to their new guidelines (released August 18). View the comparison document here.

The College also created a 'public-friendly' document, and outlines the new guidelines in a straightforward fashion. This could be a good resource to help patients understand what to expect when they visit the dentist under Phase II & III. View the public-friendly document here.