This year threw us a lot of curveballs. I wish that I’d been journaling, but I’ve said that a lot and have a lot of beautifully bound journals with two entries followed by a lot of blank pages, or unfinished “to-do” lists and unexecuted ideas.
Week of March 6, 2020: My daughter had just learned to say her own name. Her hair is long enough that I have to clip it out of her eyes. On Tuesday, I took advantage of the extra hour my mother was willing to babysit to enjoy a trip to the grocery store, meandering through the aisles, wearing my ear-buds, and listening to an audiobook. By Thursday, we had cancelled our hygiene patients for the next two weeks. On Friday, my patients for the next two weeks had been cancelled and I went to the grocery store again, because I felt like I should, acutely aware of my imaginary hoop skirt, no ear-buds. On Saturday, I celebrated my husband’s birthday with his family, the entire time feeling anxious about the future of my family. And when all of my in-laws left, I went to the grocery store again…because I knew I was going to need a lot more ice cream. There wasn’t any ice cream.
“Adapting to our ‘new normal’ has been a complicated experience for every person, every family, every business. Our dental practices are as individual and complicated as the patients who are coming into them. ”
Fast forward six months to the week of September 7, 2020: My daughter sings all of the words to the Moana and Frozen soundtracks. Her hair is long enough to put in a ponytail. I go to the grocery store about once a week, whenever I can fit it in. I go to work with a full schedule five days a week and connect with my patients over Cobra Kai, because we are all watching it on Netflix. We giggle as I have to remind them to remove their mask in order for me to examine their teeth. I don and doff my extra PPE without hesitation and continue to be an expert in managing saliva: something most other professions are just now learning how to do.
I still have people tell me that they can’t wait for things to go back to “normal” without acknowledging that a lot of our normal has returned. A lot of normal never went away. Normal is specific for each individual. For so many parents, it’s a regular school day for their kids. For the social souls who have had to work from home, it might be leaving work with friends and grabbing a drink before heading home.
Adapting to our “new normal” has been a complicated experience for every person, every family, every business. Our dental practices are as individual and complicated as the patients who are coming into them. The same way that school districts have had to make individual decisions regarding the best way to serve their students and teachers, dental offices have had to make independent decisions regarding how they administer patient care safely and comfortably. A higher organization can give you step-by-step instructions detailing how to install your own negative air filtration through your operatory window. It won’t include what to do when the next-door neighbor puts their trash under the open window and now your operatory smells like garbage (true story). In this issue, we hope to highlight some of your Pennsylvania colleagues and their individual experiences in adaptation during the past year.
Maria Garubba, DMD, FAGD
Editor, PAGD Keystone Explorer
