Volume 8 • 2021 • Issue 2

The Incidence of COVID-19: Among Canadian Dentists • Principal investigator: – Dr. Sreenath Madathil, faculty of dentistry, McGill University • Co-Investigators: – Dr. Walter Siqueira, college of dentistry, University of Saskatchewan – Dr. Paul Allison, faculty of dentistry, McGill University – Dr. Mary McNally, faculty of dentistry, Dalhousie University – Dr. Carlos Quiñonez, faculty of dentistry, University of Toronto – Dr. Michael Glogauer, faculty of dentistry, University of Toronto Among Students and Staff at Dental Schools • Principal investigator: – Dr. Paul Allison, faculty of dentistry, McGill University • Co-Investigators: – Drs. Mary McNally and Leigha Rock, faculty of dentistry, Dalhousie University – Dr. Aimée Dawson, faculty of dentistry, University of Laval – Dr. Félix Girard, faculty of dentistry, University of Montreal – Dr. Sreenath Madathil, faculty of dentistry, McGill University – Drs. Michael Glogauer and Carlos Quiñonez, faculty of dentistry; and Drs. Olga Rojas and Jennifer Gommerman, faculty of medicine, University of Toronto – Dr. Sharat Pani, Schulich school of medicine and dentistry, Western University – Dr. Robert Schroth, Dr Gerald Niznick college of dentistry, University of Manitoba – Dr. Walter Siqueira, college of dentistry, University of Saskatchewan – Dr. Liran Levin, faculty of medicine and dentistry, University of Alberta – Dr. Mario Brondani, faculty of dentistry, University of British Columbia who is the lead researcher on the dental school study. “However, there remains a lot to be learned about how it can be used to detect an immune response in patients following infection or vaccination. Our study will provide useful information about the nature of immunity with samples derived from saliva.” “The results from this research study will further inform the effective infection control protocols in dental schools, and possibly more broadly to Canadian university and college campuses across the country,” says Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer. D r. Odlum will take a one-day course that will allow her to participate in the province's immunization effort. “I know that many dentists are very busy with dentistry right now,” she says, when asked why she’d volunteered. “I have all the time in the world to help, so what the heck?” She expects that the vaccination process will require endurance from those who are administering vaccines. “It will be a process over many months. People will have to come back to get their second doses. Some people might be hesitant,” she said. “I’m ready to help explain to people how the vaccines work and why getting vaccinated matters.” Dr. Odlum says she feels that the pandemic has been a catalyst for dentists to think about how well they serve geriatric patients, especially those who live in long-term care (LTC) facilities. One Manitoba Dentist is Coming Out of Retirement to Administer Vaccines “There isn’t enough of an emphasis on geriatric dentistry in dental education. We don’t have enough dentists who visit LTC homes to do routine oral exams,” she says. “We need to teach care staff how to take care of oral health.” She worries that a lack of oral health care may have made seniors in LTC even more vulnerable to COVID. During her dental career and as a faculty member at the University of Manitoba, she often worked with cancer patients and people with renal failure, so she knows first-hand how oral health interacts with other diseases. “A crisis is an opportunity to rethink how we do things,” she says. “I don’t want to waste that opportunity.” InManitoba, theMinistry of Healthhas inviteddentists to administer COVIDvaccines. Among dentists across the province who have volunteered, Dr. OlvaOdlum—the first female dentist to practise in Manitoba—has come out of retirement to help. Hear more from the researchers on CDA Oasis: bit.ly/3kwi7g0 N ews and E vents 22 | 2021 | Issue 2