Page 15 - Dentistry Magazine 2021

Feature 15
Though clinical work continued for a short while, things changed on March 19, when Governor Tim Walz ordered all elective and non-emergent procedures, including dental, be halted. Regular operations would not resume until July 6.
A small group of faculty and residents, including Rachel Uppgaard, DDS, clinical associate professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery, volunteered to stay on campus to address the growing number of oral health emergencies. They shifted from being part of four floors filled with clinical care and student experience to a small group of rotating surgical teams.
She and her teammates focused on patients with severe toothaches, infections, facial trauma and pathology. “Our goal was to keep patients out of the hospital emergency departments so they were less likely to become infected with COVID-19,” Uppgaard explained. Though the time was painful, and involved risk, Uppgaard found herself feeling like she was part of a team. “I created more connections during a time when I expected to feel more isolated,” she explained.
From March 16 through June 5, 2020, this team provided emergency services to 930 appointments. On June 8, graduating students joined the emergency team to pro- vide care that would fulfill their graduation requirements. Together, those groups saw another 2,093 emergency appointments through July 3, 2020. The clinics returned to 60% capacity on July 6, 2020, and opened to full capacity one year later, on July 7, 2021.
March 15, 2020
Students, along with the student affairs team, found ways to connect and create community virtually in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
March 18, 2020
March 19, 2020
President Gabel orders all University employees who are able to work remotely to begin doing so by March 18
Online instruction begins at the University of Minnesota
Governor Walz orders all elective surgeries and treatments, including dental, halted. All dental clinics close.