Our benefactor writes:
There’s been quite a drop in the number of deaths, likely due to the holiday weekend. Lots of big states (e.g. TX, KS, NE, KY) not reporting any deaths. They give health officials time off, too.
The results of the work I do, like this article, are free, but food isn’t, so if you value my work, please DONATE or SUBSCRIBE.
Zachary Smith
Reopening Dental Offices For Routine Care Amid Pandemic Touches A Nerve
Both the dentist and the assistant are properly fitted out with both masks and face shields. Only one safety feature is missing here – something to handle the wide-open mouth of the patient.
In past years some of my barbers have had vacuum hoses attached to their hair clippers. These were powerful enough to suck up the hair is it was cut from the heads of the customers, but quiet enough so their operation didn’t bother anyone. That memory led to this idea:
If something isn’t already on the market, why not hire a local craftsman to build a similar vacuum for the dentist? The inlet pipe would be semi-flexible, and could be positioned near the patient’s mouth but not so close as to restrict the dental work. The motor box would have some removable filters – possibly including high-end engine oil filters – to catch droplets, and the filtered air would then be blasted with some very strong UV light bulbs as it moved through some interior barrier baffles. The filters could be removed (or unscrewed) for a bit of sterilization in a 150 degree oven for reuse. Perhaps even between patients.
What am I overlooking?