Article Details

Dental practice owners should be prepared for major changes to the California Family Rights Act. The changes take effect Jan. 1, 2021, and will impact very small businesses who will soon be required to provide 12 workweeks of job-protected unpaid family leave benefits to eligible employees annually. 

Researchers are examining the link between periodontal disease and COVID-19-related respiratory complications, and early research findings suggest that dental professionals may need to shift their focus to preventing underlying conditions, such as periodontitis, that promote systemic inflammation.

CDA is encouraging practice owners to maintain best practices this fall and winter to protect themselves, their patients and their staff against the flu virus. Getting vaccinated is even more important this year to help reduce the strain on health care systems responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dental practice schedules and production have certainly been a rollercoaster in 2020. As we near the end of the year, many practices are reporting a slight decline in patient volume compared to the third quarter. 

With an increasing demand for dental assistants throughout California, CDA is encouraging member dentists to consider transferable skills while recruiting and hiring. Smile Crew CA aims to create a pool of qualified candidates by targeting job seekers who have been displaced from service roles with adaptable skills that would make them a viable dental assistant.  

Dental professionals will be included in the state’s first-phase distribution of COVID-19 vaccine shots. CDPH expects that all essential health care workers identified in Phase 1a will receive their first dose of the vaccine by the end of January 2021.

Elisa Chavez, DDS, professor of diagnostic sciences and director of the Pacific Center for Special Care at the University of the Pacific, Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry in San Francisco, has received the California Dental Association Foundation’s Dugoni Faculty Award for 2020. 

With a new, Regional Stay at Home Order issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom, the California Dental Association urges Californians to follow state guidance while taking steps to maintain overall health and prevent COVID-19 infection. In addition to getting flu shots, exercising when safe and wearing masks, CDA encourages the public to keep their health care appointments, including dental visits.

Military families will be eligible for Paid Family Leave benefits beginning Jan. 1, 2021. Dental practice owners are encouraged to update their employee handbooks regarding military exigency and Paid Family Leave benefits.