Chandigarh: Despite IDA advisory on COVID-19, govt dental clinics function as usual

Following the advisory, Dr Harivansh Singh Judge Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital at Panjab University promptly shut down all but emergency procedures on Monday.

Dr Jagat Bhushan, principal of the Dental Hospital at PU, explained that the advisory was circulated in order to decrease the number of clinical procedures performed which can potentially expose people to the spread of the virus. Dental care, which mostly involves procedures being performed inside the mouth, can lead to an excess of aerosol generation, placing others in danger of exposure to infections. The IDA hopes that such exposure will be limited if the array of dental care is narrowed down to only emergency procedures until March 31.

However, apart from the Dental Institute at PU, most government hospitals in the city are operating dental procedures as usual.

A spokesperson from Government Medical College and Hospital in Sector 32 claims that they have received no notification as yet regarding the closure of non- essential dental care services, and are hence operating as usual. “We have not been notified of such an advisory as yet, so operations will continue as usual,” the spokesperson says.

Even at the Post-Graduate Institution of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), where authorities have been regularly circulating advisories asking the general public to refrain from visiting the hospital for minor ailments, there have been no changes made in dental care proceedings.

“For now we are offering all services as usual since we haven’t received any advisory or order from the UT or the health department to do otherwise. We are overburdened with cases as usual and appeal to the public to refrain from flocking to the hospital for minor ailments, including for minor dental issues,” says PGIMER director Jagat Ram.