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Dentists limiting treatment to emergencies after new coronavirus guidelines

Dentist Ann Carnes said she can no longer order equipment like masks and sanitizer to work safely.

A dentist in Elizabethtown said she can no longer order the equipment she needs — like masks and hand sanitizer — to work safely. To prevent the spread of coronavirus, she's limiting treatment to emergencies only. 

“We’ve never been through anything like this before," said dentist Ann Carnes.

Carnes is closing her doors for the vast majority of her patients, but she said she's confident it was the right move. 

It follows a message on Tuesday from Dr. Deborah Birx with the White House’s coronavirus task force.

"There’s a lot of people doing a lot of other things to save people’s lives," Birx said. "So let’s all be responsible and cancel things that we can cancel to really free up hospital beds and space."

For Carnes, the exception is emergency visits. Max Miser, a patient with her practice for 20 years, came in holding a tooth in his hand. 

“My tooth had popped loose," Misner said. 

Within minutes, he got it fixed. 

But Carnes said it's hard turning away most of her patients. Routine cleanings are postponed for at least three weeks.  

“It will have a huge ripple effect, it will have an effect on our dental suppliers, on our dental labs," she said. 

To prevent the spread of coronavirus, she's made additional changes within her practice. Coffee cups have been removed from the waiting area. And patients are encouraged to avoid the waiting area completely, waiting in their cars instead. Sanitizing is more frequent. 

“We’re continually disinfecting the desk and the waiting room," Carnes said. 

She added that the decision to shut her doors to most of her community wasn't easy, but she'd rather take a big hit to her business than risk harming their patients, families and coworkers. 

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