It's up to Missouri dentists to decide for themselves whether to close their offices - unlike other states, Missouri hasn't yet issued any shutdown orders.
Instead, the Missouri Dental Board urges dental offices to follow recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Dental Association.
Both advise dentists to postpone any elective or non-urgent dental procedures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Over the past couple weeks, local dental offices have moved to follow those recommendations. The last "normal" day for Gray Duck Dentistry was March 18, Dr. Teddy Rogers said. In the meantime, office staff has been working on team training and office projects, accepting only emergency patients.
Rogers defines an emergency as anything dealing with pain or infection.
"If you have swelling, give us a call," Rogers said. "If you break a tooth, give us a call."
Other local dental offices are operating under the same circumstances, treating only emergencies.
"The goal is that if you have a tooth problem, seek care with a dentist, so not to overflow the emergency room," Rogers said.
The Fulton Dental Clinic told patients in a Facebook post Friday that is is rescheduling April appointments - the office is still seeing emergency patients. St. George Family Dental began rescheduling appointments at around the same time as Gray Duck and tentatively plans to reopen by May.
"Right now, we're just sort of waiting until we get further updates," Dr. Matthew St. George said.
Dentists typically use much of the same protective gear as other medical professionals, but with COVID-19 spurring an increased demand for masks, gowns and face shields, that gear is now hard to come by.
"Dentistry has always been kind of at the forefront of (protective gear) because we're in close quarters," Rogers said.
St. George said he has several masks that can be disinfected and re-worn, but he said the shortage is a big issue for others.
"A lot of states are recommending that you give (N95 masks) to the local hospital," he said. "My dental suppliers are sold out."
N95 respirators differ from other face masks in that they filter out very small air particles. The CDC recommends only health care personnel use N95 masks at this time.
"I do a lot of 3D printing in my office for implants and a lot of other things related to dentistry," St. George said, explaining he plans to use the printer to make swabs for COVID-19 tests, ventilator splitters and N95 masks for the government.
Rogers and St. George aren't sure when their offices will be able to go back to business as usual.
"It's definitely put a damper on my family, that's for sure, not being able to work," St. George said. "I'm trying to support my staff through this. There's not necessarily a lot of options for me as a business owner. It's not ideal, but I don't want to be the one to pass it on to somebody."
This article was edited at 9:20 a.m. April 6, 2020, to clarify the patient scheduling information announced in the Fulton Dental Clinic's Facebook post.