About 79 percent of dentists said their practices are closed except for emergencies, while 17 percent said their practices are completely shut down, according to a poll by the ADA Health Policy Institute for the week of April 20.
The biweekly poll was taken by 6,614 dentists.
Four key findings:
1. About 77 percent of dentists' total weekly collections were less than 5 percent of what is typical for their practice, an increase from 69 percent for the week of April 6.
2. For the week of April 20, 45 percent of dentists did not pay their staff. About 13 percent of practices were paying staff in full, a slight increase from 11 percent the week of April 6.
3. Among the 74 percent of dentists who said they applied for a Small Business Administration 7(a) Paycheck Protection Program loan, half had their application approved, 34 percent were waiting on a decision and 15 percent were not approved.
4. A quarter of dentists said they are conducting problem-focused evaluations via videoconferencing.