CRESTWOOD, Ky. — Dental offices are taking extra precautions because of the coronavirus.

Dr. Sue Feeley's office in Crestwood has started postponing some appointments, trying to keep the number of people in her waiting room to a minimum. She also said she's encouraging patients to wait in their cars until the dentist is ready for them to further minimize any contact.

Her office is also taking more time to wash everything in her office between patients.

Feeley said she can't shut her office down entirely because dental problems could lead to serious health issues.

If you close down offices, and you don’t treat an abscess tooth or severe pain, toothaches, those patients are still going to go someplace. They’re not going to be able to sit at home," Feeley said. "We haven’t seen it in years, but dental abscesses kill people, and so there is the potential for them to become toxic. So with that, they will need to go in, and the cost of care to them becomes much higher (in the emergency room). So if we can at least get them on antibiotics, get them in and get them managed properly, we can alleviate that huge load on emergency rooms."

Feeley said she has also taken all of the toys and magazines out of office to limit exposure.

Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday there are no plans to put limits on dental procedures, but Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine has asked dentists to limit the number of procedures they perform and reschedule other procedures, like routine hygiene appointments, cosmetic procedures or orthodontic procedures that won't alleviate pain or infection.

Dental groups in California and Illinois have requested similar measures.