However, the State’s health guidelines continue to be in effect for health care settings per CDC guidelines.
Most Recent Updates
June 16, 2021 - NYS Lifts COVID Restrictions
As of June 15, capacity limits, social distancing, disinfection and mask protocols and health screenings will no longer be mandatory for the majority of businesses, including offices, sporting events, manufacturing, malls, movie theaters, camps, construction sites, restaurants, amusement parks and retail stores. However, the State’s health guidelines continue to be in effect for large-scale indoor event venues, pre-K to grade 12 schools, public transit, homeless shelters, correctional facilities, nursing homes, and health care settings per CDC guidelines.
Dental offices must continue to:
- Perform mandatory health screening practices of DHCP, patients, and visitors.
- Screening may be conducted by asking employees to self-monitor before reporting to work or may be conducted in-person by the employer.
- At a minimum, screening must be completed using a questionnaire that determines whether the individual has: (1) experienced any symptoms of COVID-19 in the past 14 days; (2) tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 14 days; and/or (3) been in close proximate contact with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 case in the past 14 days.
- Per the NYSDOH Interim Guidance for Dentistry, in addition to the screening questionnaire, temperature checks may also be conducted per U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or DOH guidelines. Responsible Parties are prohibited from keeping records of employee health data (e.g. the specific temperature data of an individual), but are permitted to maintain records that confirm individuals were screened and the result of such screening (e.g. pass/fail, cleared/not cleared).
- Continue to wear appropriate PPE when treating patients.
- Continue to wear face coverings in dental office settings.
- Have a written COVID-19 safety plan. This plan should have been implemented in June 2020 when dental offices fully reopened. See NY Forward Safety Plan Template.
For additional guidance, please refer to:
OSHA COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard Key Points
CDC guidelines in dental settings
June 14, 2021 - Updated Guidance from OSHA
Dental practices are mostly exempt from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) new Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to protect healthcare workers from COVID-19 in recognition of the profession's ability to practice safely during the pandemic. Those most likely to be affected by the new standard include hospital-based oral surgery practices and dentists who provide care for COVID-19 patients, according to ADA News. The American Dental Association has summarized the findings and created a fact sheet to help dentists understand the OSHA ETS. All dental practices must continue to follow some key guidelines, according to the ADA OSHA ETS fact sheet:
- Pre-appointment screenings are still necessary
- Everyone (patients, non-employees on site, and staff) must be screened prior to entry, and those with suspected or confirmed COVI-19 are not permitted to enter.
- Dental practices must have a written COVID-19 plan.
- A state OSHA or other local regulatory body may enact more stringent standard, including one that does cover dental offices.
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