Non-essential dental services resume

SANTA FE (KSMX)- New Mexico dentists in all but three counties were given the go-ahead to resume providing non-essential dental care provided they agree to comply with guidelines developed to protect the supply of personal protective equipment, state health officials announced Friday.

Per the press release, the Phase I Reopening Guidelines for dentists were developed by the New Mexico Medical Advisory Team in collaboration with the New Mexico Dental Association. They include a personal protective equipment burn rate calculator dental providers can use to determine how quickly they are using up personal protective equipment like masks, face shields, gloves and gowns.

San Juan, McKinley and Cibola counties are exempt as they continue fighting a surge of COVID- 19 cases.