ILLINOIS — Illinois Department of Public Health announced Monday that dental offices in Illinois can begin reopening for “routine oral and dental care” under new IDPH guidelines.

The IDPH website says the department has carefully monitored the daily number of newly reported COVID-19 cases.

If the trend continues as anticipated, certain models indicate there will likely be a decrease in the burden of COVID-19 illness in Illinois towards the end of May 2020.

With that in mind, there is a need for a plan to resume safe and routine oral and dental treatment,

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, previous guidance recommended oral and dental care be limited to addressing emergency and urgent needs.

IDPH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended some precautions for oral health providers, such as the use of airborne isolation rooms when performing aerosolization procedures involving a known or suspected COVID-19 patient.

Both organizations also say dentists could choose to require patients to be tested for coronavirus prior to seeking treatment.