California Gov. Gavin Newsom halted indoor operations for many businesses July 13 to slow the transmission of COVID-19, the California Dental Association reports.

The Mississippi State Department of Health has ordered a temporary ban on nonemergency medical procedures in response to the state's personal protective equipment shortages and growing number of COVID-19 cases.

The World Health Organization has said the novel coronavirus can linger in the air indoors.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said July 8 that he would suspend elective surgeries again if needed, according to WLTX.

The University of California, Los Angeles School of Dentistry failed to implement several COVID-19 safety practices, several residents and faculty members told the Daily Bruin.

Albany, N.Y.-based dentist Larry Kotlow, DDS, is warning other dentists reopening their practices about the perils of using masks with valves, according to local NBC affiliate WNYT.

Becker's has compiled a non-exhaustive list of known characteristics, trends and treatments related to COVID-19, as of June 26.

Dental practices can reassure hesitant patients and increase patient comfort levels during the era of COVID-19, according to the California Dental Association.

Dentists and hygienists have a higher risk of getting sick than patients, since they are on the receiving end of any aerosol droplets potentially containing the virus, some health specialists told The New York Times.

The Virginia Dental Association revised its treatment guidelines to help ensure patient and staff safety during the pandemic, according to WSET.

Dentists nationwide are taking precautions to make sure their practices are operating safely during the pandemic, but they are not being consistently tested for COVID-19, according to Asheville, N.C., ABC affiliate WLOS.

Six staff members at the Dental College of Georgia at Augusta University have tested positive for COVID-19, university officials confirmed with Fox's WFXG.

Mark Funke, DDS, president of the Nevada Dental Association, is assuring Nevadans it is safe to visit the dentist during the pandemic, according to an opinion column he wrote for the Reno Gazette Journal.

Dentists should exercise caution in determining the waiting period before disinfecting treatment rooms, according to the American Dental Association's response to the CDC's recent relaxation of dental safety protocols.

Texas dentist Dunia Korous, DDS, has found her Solea laser to be an important infection control tool for her Frisco-based practice, according to local ABC affiliate WFAA.

Milwaukee-based Dental Associates has invested in new infection control devices, including two devices that stop saliva spray and help lower virus exposure risk, according to NBC affiliate WTMJ-TV.

Dentists nationwide have banded together to launch #DentalSAFETY, a grassroots campaign working to boost public confidence about the safety of dental practices amid the pandemic.

There are seven things dental practices should do to help manage the health of team members if a recent patient reports that they or a household member has COVID-19, according to the American Dental Association.

The ADA provided a hazard assessment guide and checklist for the safe reopening of dental practices as a part of the organization's continued efforts to ease confusion and anxiety among dentists during the COVID-19 pandemic.

All licensed California dentists can receive free personal protective equipment from the California Dental Association regardless of membership status, according to a May 28 news release.