The American Dental Association approved this fee, per this article:
Dentists extract new fee from patients to keep up with rising COVID-19 costs
A summary of this article:
1) dentists need to space out appointments to keep their waiting rooms uncrowded
2) The association, which sets industry standards, gave dentists the green light to charge the extra infection control fee as long as they disclosed it to patients ahead of each visit, a spokesperson said
3) Dentists said they have little or no leverage to force large insurance companies to raise their reimbursement rates. The American Dental Association asked insurers to take into account the additional COVID-19 costs dentists face, and many insurers responded by agreeing to pay extra fees.
4) example: Swish was paying about $6 for a box of 20 masks. Today, $6 buys a single mask. The dental office has installed sneeze guards, staffers are wearing face shields over their masks, and the offices have added air filtration systems and hired additional sanitation staff members to clean the offices every day.
5) estimates that the offices are working at only half capacity since they reopened in mid-May.