Being a female in the medical field has never been easy and now, during the Covid-19 pandemic, there are even more challenges.
In light of Women’s Month, IOL spoke to Dr Bongiwe Nhlangulela, a dentist in a private practice. She speaks about life during this time and how dentistry has been affected by the pandemic.
Please tell us about yourself and where you are in your medical career
I was born and raised in the Eastern Cape. I am a young, black and female family dentist practising in Fourways, Johannesburg. I have been in private practice for about four years now.
I went to the University of Pretoria and began my career in Durban, KZN. I opened my first practice in 2018 in Johannesburg. That practice was located in the Joburg CBD. I closed the CBD practice in 2019 and reopened a new one in Fourways in 2020, a month before the Covid-19 pandemic.
How has your normal work routine been affected by the pandemic?
Nothing has been quite the same since the pandemic. Since the very beginning of the lockdown and up to now, we have had to surrender to many different protocols. We have stayed open since the pandemic hit South Africa as an essential service.
However, initially we were only allowed to do emergency procedures, which means our other non-essential work was on hold. Since infection control has always been part of our practice, the transition into the usage of PPE wasn’t that difficult/ different.
We continued with disinfection of surfaces between patients but just had to take additional measures such as the use of gowns, and shoe covers as well as more frequent fumigation of our rooms.
We can now practice the full scope of dentistry however under strict protocols adhering to the Covid guidelines. Work itself has been and continues to be relatively slow as fear mounts amongst the public. As an already underrated medical / health service, this has meant that business itself has been negatively affected.
As a dentist, what are some of your fears about Covid-19?
Part of a dentist’s job entails the use of rotary instruments, with air-water syringes and water- cooling systems. The equipment we use generates a visible spray/ aerosol in the air that contains large particle droplets of water, saliva, blood and microorganisms.
This production of aerosols is already difficult to contain and control even with high-volume suction use. So the immediate fear would naturally be to catch the virus because the environment is such that we are in very close contact with patients.
However, measures are in place to protect us from this. I think my biggest fear lies in the loss of business in dentistry. We live in a world where everyone is overly cautious and not necessarily well educated about the virus.
This means that patients will fear coming to the dentist at all, no matter what safety measures are in place. It is also very expensive to maintain PPE use and new levels of infection control. There are no extra payments being made to us at this stage to compensate for the purchase of all the things required according to the new protocols/ recommendations.
How do you take care of your mental health during this time?
I try and focus on the fact that I am here to serve others. It is a great risk to me to also be out there however, my commitment to my patients really helps me align my thoughts. It gives me a purpose. If I also stayed home, who would help my patients.
I think also an understanding of the fact that dentistry is an integral part of whole-body health and that it can’t be left until “after the pandemic” helps me remember why I am doing what I do. On the other hand, I rely on rest, prayer and my relationships with family and friends.
When things feel like they are overwhelming, I rely on copious amounts of conversation and laughter. I simply talk about it, whatever it is.
What do you love most about your profession?
I love helping people! The fulfilment of bringing back someone’s smile through their well-being and changing their perceptions of themselves is unmatched. I also love that it gives me the opportunity to educate people about oral health.
What keeps you motivated?
There is so much work to be done in dentistry. So much more education still to be taught to people, especially black people. I am also motivated by the fact that I am one of the women representing young and black and female dentists in the country. It motivates me that young girls look at me and are reminded that they can be whatever they want to be too.
What would you like people to know about dental care during Covid-19 time?
That you still need to do the basics: brush twice a day and see your dentist twice a year. Covid has taught us a lot about prevention. Most things in dentistry are preventable. Let’s take the education and determination of prevention and apply it in our dental care. Also, that the dentists are open.