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It is impossible. As much imagination as we put into it, there is no human way to extract a tooth two or a meter away. However, the Government has not decreed the closure of dental clinics. Not a single mention of this activity. "It is a very delicate situation, we do not have the necessary material or protective equipment to carry out our duties," says Óscar Castro, the president of the General Council of Dentists of Spain . " We continue to receive complaints from salaried dentists who force them to continue working without adequate means, without masks, in a precarious situation, and all because the economic situation prevails more than the pandemic."

"If neither the hospitals have protection systems, except us. We do not have FFP2 or FFP3 masks. There are clinics that do not have caps or gowns and do not contemplate taking turns . All the staff come. It is not prudent," says a dentist who prefers do not reveal your name. The problem is that "we cannot refuse because if not, they fire us or we don't get paid. It only closes if the staff is infected," he adds.

"We are an unprotected sector," says another of the dentists who transmits his complaint forcefully. "Many of us work from clinic to clinic to make ends meet. I consider it irresponsible that they remain open and less in these conditions."

The situation is risky. Also anonymously, a worker at a chain of dental clinics describes the daily work of 100% of the staff, from nine in the morning to nine at night. " We work with paper masks . We have been asking for adequate masks for weeks. We are attending without safety measures of any kind , both for my patients and me. Meetings with eight people without a safety distance. We attend check- ups, we do dental cleaning ... They are not emergencies and we do not have protective equipment. "

The feeling of this union is common: "We are risk personnel. Is the government not going to recommend closings and aid?" With this intention, the president of the General Council of Dentists of Spain has sent for the fourth time a letter to the Minister of Health, Salvador Illa: "I beg you to proceed to decree by the Government as a measure of containment in the spread of the disease the suspension of the opening of dental clinics during the period that is necessary [...], since the continuity of our professional practice, in the conditions in which it is being developed, puts in serious risk both the health of the professionals and the from the patients".

The idea is not to leave the population in a dental emergency situation unattended, but rather to enable "a network of dental clinics that adequately attend to each province, always with the appropriate controls and necessary protective equipment."

To date, there is no response, so: "free way" for entrepreneurs who want to continue billing. It should be remembered that in these spaces "everything is sterilized, but due to its characteristics, SARS-Cov-2 is deposited on surfaces and lasts hours if it is not disinfected and at the same time it is transmitted by air," argues Castro. Taking into account that "we work with instruments that cause aerosols and water is released into the air, if the patient is infected, the virus spreads in the environment." This means that "if we do not have adequate means of protection (glasses, FP2 or FP3 mask), waterproof gowns, leggings, hats and gloves), we can become potential contagion agents, both us and the rest of the clinic staff, other patients and their companions. "

Therefore, there is no other way out, " we ask that the Government decree the closure of dental clinics. We are warning of the danger that they represent if they remain open when we have no means to protect ourselves: no masks or gloves or gowns ...".

One of the anonymous dentists stated in his complaint that "many of the patients consider that theirs is urgent when they could really wait" and on the other hand, "many of my colleagues who do not have their own clinic are forced to go to work every day to attend to these supposed emergencies. I even know of professionals who keep the clinic on a normal schedule because they have to be billed. Please, I think it is our responsibility as health professionals to help stop the contagion and not favor it. "

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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