Myant Inc., a world leader in Textile Computing, has declared a partnership with Dr. Natalie Archer DDS, a recognized Canadian dental expert, to collectively develop a new line of personal protective equipment (PPE) designed to address the extreme risks that dental professionals face as they reopen their practices to serve their communities.

The types of PPE under development comprise both washable cloth masks intended for support employees in dental practices, and washable textile-based respirators that meet NIOSH N95 criteria for dentists who are employed in critical proximity to patients.

Hazards for dental practitioners

Social networking is one of the basic tactics to mitigate the spread of this coronavirus, with health officials advising people to maintain distancing of two meters with other individuals. With authorities progressively reopening their economies and allowing companies to begin serving their communities, the challenge of maintaining two-meter distancing will develop into a possible source of danger for both front-line employees and for those they serve.

"This is especially true for people working in the dental sector whose job environment is at the possible origin of infection: the mouths and noses of their patients," Myant said in a post on its site. "An analysis conducted by Visual Capitalist, leveraging data in the Occupational Information Network, indicates that dentists, dental hygienists, dental assistants, and dental administrative staff are among the professions and encourage staff at the maximum risk of exposure to coronavirus. Their work requires close proximity / bodily contact with other people, and they're routinely exposed to possible sources of infectious diseases."

"Consider the contact tracing challenge if a single asymptomatic dental hygienist tests positive for COVID-19. That dental hygienist can work in a practice with two dentists, a billing coordinator, a receptionist, and three other dental hygienists who every see 100 patients a week (with every individual coming with a beloved one in the waiting area ). It is clear that dental practitioners need to be among the most watchful in our communities when it comes to the adoption of effective PPE in order to protect themselves and society by an expected second-wave of the virus."

Partnership to induce innovation in dental PPE

Recognizing this question Myant, the fabric innovator that pivoted To invention in PPE as a response to COVID-19 has partnered with one of Canada's pre-eminent dental specialists to design a line of PPE geared specifically to meet the challenges that dentists, additional dental practitioners and their employees will confront, in the Post-COVID standard. Dr. Natalie Archer DDS was the newest dentist elected to serve on the Board of the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario and served as the regulating body's Vice President between 2011 and 2012. As a trusted and recognized subject matter specialist on dentistry-related topics, she is regularly asked to talk to the general public from the Canadian media. Dr. Archer will be working closely with the Myant staff, advising on the plan and the certification procedure for a new lineup of PPE for dental professionals now under development.

Reflecting on her motives, Dr. Archer told Myant, "Dental practitioners feel a huge responsibility to contact serving their communities, however as both servants and members of their community, we have to be safe and accountable for both sufferers and the people that treat them. Like other dental professionals, I am concerned about maintaining levels of PPE."

"With disposable PPE I believe there will always be a concern of running out, the cost, ensure quality, and of course environmental concerns because of all of the waste. Also, there's a true issue with the discomfort that now available PPE presents for dentists that normally work long shifts and whose job is bodily. I am excited to be innovating with the team at Myant to address the real-world clinical issues that we're confronting now in dentistry by creating PPE that is protective, comfortable, and reusable, which will help all of us stay safe and allow us to do our jobs."

The PPE for dental professionals will be designed and fabricated in Myant's Toronto-based, 80,000 square foot facility which has the current ability to create 340,000 units of PPE per month. Plans are underway to expand this capacity to produce over one million units per month as communities across Canada and the United States begin searching for ways to re-open in a safe and responsible manner.

"This new development highlights the agility with which Myant is capable To operate, rapidly integrating the domain expertise of our partners to Unlock the potential behind our core textile design and Commercialization capabilities," said Myant Executive Vice President Ilaria Varoli. "Textiles are everywhere in our everyday lives and we seem forward to working with partners like Dr. Archer to make life better, easier, and safer for most people."