Sharon A. Chass, DMD

As of 9 AM, Monday June 1st, we are open for all general and cosmetic dentistry. Thanks to the New York State Dental Association who met with Governor Cuomo over the weekend to explain to him that it was high time for people to be able to see their dentist for regular and routine dental care.

Our community has been through a lot of changes over the past few months, however one thing has remained the same: my commitment to your safety in the dental office. Infection control has always been a top priority for my practice and you have seen this during your visits here. I carefully study infection control recommendations made by the American Dental Association (ADA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Ad...ministration (OSHA). When feasible, I try to go beyond the recommendations of these agencies. You may see some changes when it is time for your next appointment. I would like to tell you about the infection control procedures which I will be adding to my office to keep patients and staff safe. For example: 1- For the next few months, Dr. Haggar, the dentist with whom I share the office, and I, have decided together to limit the number of staff in the office. Less people in the office means more safety in the office. 2- You will be asked some screening questions before and also on the same day as your appointment. 3- You will be asked to wear a mask as you enter the office. 4- You will be asked to use hand sanitizer immediately as you enter office. Hand sanitizer will be available to you as you enter. 5- You will have your temperature taken with a no contact forehead thermometer. 6- There will no longer be magazines or phone chargers available in the waiting room since these items are difficult to disinfect in between uses. Please feel free to bring your own phone charger to use here and your own reading material. 7- Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That means greater time in between patient appointments, and thus, there should be little or no wait time between the time that you arrive and the time you are seated in the operatory chair. 8- You may see HEPA and UV air purifiers around the office. Please know that all of them are ozone free and safe. At this time dental offices are only open for emergencies. If you would like to make an appointment, your name can be placed on a list to be called when Governor Cuomo allows dental offices to open for routine procedures. To be placed on this list, please call 212-644-9340, leave a detailed message and please leave your name and telephone number slowly. You may also email the office at [email protected]. Updates to re-opening of dental offices will be posted here. I look forward to seeing you again and am happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps that have been taken to keep you and every patient safe in the dental office. Thank you in advance for your patience.

Please sign the petition and share so we can protect dentists, their staff and their patients and families when we get the "ALL CLEAR" to go back to our jobs. https://www.change.org/p/american-dental-association-americ

A great way to help out from home!

For those dentist friends and medical colleagues who are able to donate excess PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) here is a spreadsheet of those hospitals need...ing it. I have already donated masks (they need non-N95 as well as N95), paper gowns, boxes of gloves,extra safety glasses and refills of hand sanitizer, all of which I purchased for my office, naively thinking a month ago that we would be working through this pandemic, never thinking it would become a pandemic. Please donate if you can to: See more

Taken from COVID 19 Canadian physician group "Feeling confused as to why Coronavirus is a bigger deal than Seasonal flu? Here it is in a nutshell. I hope this h...elps. Feel free to share this to others who don’t understand. It has to do with RNA sequencing...i.e. genetics. Seasonal flu is an all human virus. The DNA/RNA chains that make up the virus are recognized by the human immune system. This means that your body has some immunity to it before it comes around each year. You get immunity two ways...through exposure to a virus, or by getting a flu shot. Novel viruses come from animals. The WHO tracks novel viruses in animals (sometimes for years watching for mutations). Usually these viruses only transfer from animal to animal (pigs in the case of H1N1, birds in the case of the Spanish flu). But once one of these animal viruses mutates and starts to transfer from animals to humans...then it’s a problem. Why? Because we have no natural or acquired immunity. The RNA sequencing of the genes inside the virus isn’t human, and the human immune system doesn’t recognize it, so we can’t fight it off. Now...sometimes, the mutation only allows transfer from animal to human. For years it’s only transmission is from an infected animal to a human before it finally mutates so that it can now transfer human to human. Once that happens, we have a new contagion phase. And depending on the fashion of this new mutation, that’s what decides how contagious, or how deadly, it’s going to be. H1N1 was deadly, but it did not mutate in a way that was as deadly as the Spanish flu. Its RNA was slower to mutate and it attacked its host differently, too. Fast forward. Now, here comes this Coronavirus. It existed in animals only, for nobody knows how long. But one day, at an animal market in Wuhan China, in December 2019, it mutated and made the jump from animal to people. At first, only animals could give it to a person. But here is the scary part. In just TWO WEEKS, it mutated again and gained the ability to jump from human to human. Scientists call this quick ability, slippery. This Coronavirus, not being in any form a human virus (whereas we would all have some natural or acquired immunity), took off like a rocket. And this was because humans have no known immunity...doctors have no known medicines for it. And it just so happens that this particular mutated animal virus changed itself in such a way the way that it causes great damage to human lungs. That’s why Coronavirus is different from seasonal flu, or H1N1, or any other type of influenza...this one is slippery AF. And it’s a lung eater. And, it’s already mutated AGAIN, so that we now have two strains to deal with, strain S and strain L...which makes it twice as hard to develop a vaccine. We really have no tools in our shed with this. History has shown that fast and immediate closings of public places has helped in the past pandemics. Philadelphia and Baltimore were reluctant to close events in 1918 and they were the hardest hit in the US during the Spanish Flu. Factoid: Henry VIII stayed in his room and allowed no one near him till the Black Plague passed (honestly, I understand him so much better now). Just like us, he had no tools in his shed, except social isolation. And let me end by saying...right now it’s hitting older folks harder...but this genome is so slippery, if it mutates again (and it will), who is to say what it will do next. #flattenthecurve. Stay home folks. And share this to those that just are not catching on." Credit to Estrelita Estrella

My practice will be closed for routine dental treatment until at least through April 4th, as I am following the American Dental Association guidelines to shut my doors for 3 weeks. At some point in the next 3 weeks, when the ADA reevaluates the situation concerning Covid19, I will be better able to notify patients of re-opening to routine dental procedures. In case of any emergent needs, I will be available. Please call the office if you have an emergency or any questions and thank you in advance for your understanding. https://www.ada.org//ada-recommending-dentists-postpone-el

Many people ask me about this. Here is a good summary for the general public.

Almost two years ago, as I entered my 33rd year of practicing general dentistry, I began to focus on the study of sleep apnea, a challenging and exciting field in which dentists play an important role. Following a series of intensive courses over many months and after passing a rigorous four hour exam, I was awarded the status of Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine (ABDSM) in July of this year. The ABDSM created the first certification program in Denta...Continue reading

Something new about stroke detection that everyone should read: https://www.evernote.com/shard/s7/client/snv

One of my favorite patients is hosting this event for a very good cause. Please consider attending!

Meet Lucy Hobbs Taylor. After being denied acceptance into dental school twice, she decided to open her own practice instead of attempting to get into a college once again in 1861. After a year, Lucy Hobbs Taylor moved to Iowa and opened a dentistry practice. This allowed her to be accepted as a dentist without the diploma and become part of the Iowa State Dental Society. Being part of this society meant that she was also serving as the group’s delegate to the American Dental... Associate Convention, only 3 years after moving to Iowa. With great coincidence, that same year (1865) the Ohio College of Dentistry decided to waive the policy prohibiting women being admitted to the institution. Instantly, Taylor enrolled as a senior student thanks to her dentistry experience she had accumulated over the years. She graduated in 1866, becoming THE FIRST WOMAN IN THE WORLD TO RECEIVE A DOCTORATE IN DENTISTRY. See more

Dr. Shari Samansky-Summers Says it perfectly here!