Oral History Interview with Wendy Crawford

Partial Transcript: This is JT Crawford, interviewer on September 27th, 2020

Segment Synopsis: W Crawford, J Crawford's wife, lives in Kentucky and is a registered dental hygienist in private practice. She recalls that at the end of February, Covid-19 was mainly just in China. She didn't start getting concerned by the virus until it affected Italy. In March, the WHO declared it a pandemic and the CDC declared it a state of emergency. This was when she started bringing it up to her dental office, and they started buying more supplies. A lot of people thought announcements about the virus were just scare tactics and that Covid was similar to the flu.

Keywords: CDC; Center for Disease Control and Prevention; China; Dental hygienist; Dental office; Flu; Italy; Private practice; Scare tactics; State of emergency; WHO; World Health Organization

Subjects: Dental hygiene; Influenza; Teeth--Polishing

Partial Transcript: Then, not too long into March, at some point in March, things started to shut down

Segment Synopsis: Governor Beshear said they had to start shutting down for elected offices (medical procedures), which included dentistry. Dentists were only allowed to operate on things that had to be done immediately. Everything else was held off.

Keywords: Dentistry; Elected offices; Governor Beshear; Immediate operations; Medical procedures; Shut down; Shutdown; Shutting down

Subjects: Dentistry; Governor; Mandates

Partial Transcript: So, then, according to Governor Beshear's mandate, then dental offices would have to shut down in March

Segment Synopsis: In Crawford's office, the response to the mandate was not good. She and her coworkers did not understand what they were able to do safely. They were worried about producing droplets and aerosols, so they wanted to only use hand tools. Their dentist did not agree with this, because he felt they would not be providing the intended dental service. When Crawford had time off, she spent a lot of time trying to find more information about the virus. She was very worried about how their office would reopen. Dental hygienists are one of the most at-risk populations of spreading covid.

Keywords: Aerosols; At-risk; Dentist; Droplets; Hand tools; Mandate; Reopen; Research; Safe

Subjects: Dental hygiene; Dentistry; Mandates; Teeth--Polishing

Partial Transcript: So, everything shut down, and you're researching as much as you can of what might happen

Segment Synopsis: It was shocking to everybody when they were told dental offices could reopen in late April if they had a plan. There was pressure from the Oral Surgeons of Kentucky on the governor to reopen. There was no agreement on the minimum safety requirements that were needed to reopen. Crawford sent a letter to many, many people about her concerns. Many people shared Crawford's concerns.

Keywords: Concerns; Dental offices; Governor; Letter; Plan; Pressure

Subjects: Dentistry; Governor

Partial Transcript: So, this is the letter that I put together

Segment Synopsis: Crawford pushes officials to make guidelines that are more careful and will protect dental hygienists. One solution she offers is having all customers take a test prior to their appointment. She explains that this will also benefit the community by identifying positive covid cases. She urges the medical and dental communities come together. She also gives some alternative solutions, such as PPE (personal protective equipment) and increased times between dentist appointments. Bush then gives some personal reasons on why a safe reopening is important to her. She sent this letter to multiple people and organizations, but she only a response from the American Dental Association Kentucky Chapter. This letter was so important to her because not following guidelines puts her license at risk. At the time, there was a shortage of PPE and they were required to either have a N95 mask or have a level 3 mask with a shield.

Keywords: American Dental Association; Appointment; Dental community; Guidelines; Level 3 masks; License; Medical community; N95 masks; Personal Protective Equipment; Positive cases; PPE; Testing

Subjects: Dentistry; Personal protective equipment; Protective clothing

Partial Transcript: So, in this plan that they came up with they said that you can

Segment Synopsis: Her dentist told her they were able to get N95 masks. She had to be fitted for those at a health center and thought those masks looked different from N95 masks. The masks did not seal like she thought they were supposed to, and nobody there gave her a reason why when she asked. She disagreed with her dentist on whether or not they needed to seal. So, she did some research, and found out there were lots of counterfeit masks. On the CDC website, she found out the masks they got were counterfeits. He didn't believe her until it was later all over the news.

Keywords: CDC; Center for Disease Control and Prevention; Fitted; Health center; N95 masks; News; Seal

Subjects: Personal protective equipment

Partial Transcript: So, by the way, who put together - do you know who put together

Segment Synopsis: There were a lot of various organizations that set up the guidelines together. The guidelines were very vague. Crawford started a Facebook group for dental hygienists to come together and share information.

Keywords: Facebook; Hygienists; Share information

Subjects: Facebook

Partial Transcript: So, how did you feel personally so, the announcement was made that

Segment Synopsis: Crawford was very frustrated that they did not have enough guidance about reopening the dental offices. She was very worried that going against the CDC guidelines would cause her to lose her license. She contacted a lawyer who said she wouldn't be help responsible.

Keywords: CDC guidelines; Center for Disease Control and Prevention; Dental community; Dental license; Guidance; Lawyer

Subjects: Law

Partial Transcript: So, you have some people in your dental community, it sounds like, that they were nervous

Segment Synopsis: The dental community was split among people that were worried about reopening and others that wanted to reopen. Dr. Stack said the reopening was a comprehensive plan, dental offices did not have to reopen, and they were facing some societal pressures. Crawford's office opened around a week after they were allowed to.

Keywords: Dr. Stack; Reopen; Societal pressure; Steven Stack

Subjects: Division

Partial Transcript: And then did your dentist put to practice anything new

Segment Synopsis: Their dental office changed some of their procedures for better infection control. Crawford was very nervous to go back to work, but it went well once she got into the routine. Crawford wanted everybody to meet before they reopened, but many of her coworkers were reluctant to. She still had many concerns about their procedures.

Keywords: Infection control; Meeting; Routine

Subjects: Infection--Control

Partial Transcript: Right, so how did the political come out

Segment Synopsis: There were many times where Crawford's dentist doubted her, claiming that the coronavirus was a hoax. Many other females also felt that the dentists weren't listening to them and that the dentists were ignoring the science. Some people cared more about the business than the healthcare.

Keywords: Business; Healthcare; Hoax; Science

Subjects: Politics

Partial Transcript: So, you worked, you went back to work so how did that go

Segment Synopsis: Crawford became very concerned with the safety procedures at her dental office, so she found another office to work at. During her two-week notice, the office was a very toxic environment. The new dentist that she found was ahead of the curve, and very concerned about science. It was a very different environment in her new office.

Keywords: Safety procedures; Science; Two-week notice

Subjects: Safety regulations

Partial Transcript: So I think that's about all the questions that I have, is there something that you would like to discuss or something that I didn't go over

Segment Synopsis: She hopes that the medical and dental communities can join together to promote health. She also hopes that insurance will look at oral health as something that is essential. People need to be more proactive and aware of the practices.

Keywords: Dental communities; Health; Insurance; Medical communities

Subjects: Health; Health attitudes