Today the governor issued a proclamation addressing Nonessential or Elective Surgeries and Procedures. We have received confirmation that this proclamation does not include dental procedures. The Iowa Dental Board’s press release stated:

This section does not modify the existing restrictions on dental practices. The current restrictions, described in Section 11 of the Governor’s Proclamation of Disaster Emergency issued on April 2, 2020 , and copied below, remain in effect until April 30, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. unless otherwise extended or terminated by Governor Reynolds.

We will update you as we become aware of new developments on this matter.

Today the President is set to sign the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act that will inject $370 billion into the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) programs passed by the House yesterday . Specifically, the PPP loan program would be increased by $310 billion with $60 billion set aside for smaller PPP lenders; the EIDL loan program will receive an additional $50 billion; and the EIDL grant program will receive $10 billion. 

At this time, dentists who have not received funds from these programs are urged to consider applying for both EIDL and PPP loans. Those who have already applied and had the processing of their application placed on hold due to lack of funding, please watch for information from your lender about status updates. Those planning to apply for these programs are strongly encouraged to do so as quickly as possible. Although additional funding was allocated for these loan programs, funding is expected to be exhausted quickly.

Yesterday the Iowa Governor allocated additional funds to the Small Business Relief Grant. Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) is using these additional funds to provide grants to applicants that did not receive grants in the first funding phase earlier this month. Since no dentists were included in the first funding phase, IDA leadership wrote a letter and met with representatives from IEDA to illustrate the importance of providing funding to dental offices to ensure the ongoing oral healthcare of Iowans. Dentist offices are among those who have been reported as receiving funding during this second phase. The IEDA is not accepting new applications, but they will be considering all applications that were submitted previously. 

IDA continues to track the amount of PPE being donated by Iowa dentists. If you have not done so already, please  contact IDA with a list of the items donated and the name of the facility donated to.

For those willing to donate, please complete the  donation form.

Follow us on  Facebook to view pictures that dentists have submitted delivering donations and be sure to tag us in your donation posts.

Thank you to the dentists who have recently donated or volunteered to donate PPE:

Governor Reynolds continues to conduct daily press conferences at 11:00 AM. Access the press conferences via  Facebook and on many local news channels.

The governor issues daily press releases regarding the status of COVID-19's effect on Iowans.  Click here to access the most recent press release.