How Dentists Served During Covid Pandemic
How Dentists Served During Covid Pandemic
Coronavirus disease 2019, also known as COVID-19, has rapidly become a worldwide emergency. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently declared the global pandemic. The pathogen responsible for such infection is the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Although the new COVID-19 virus is different from SARS-CoV, it uses the same host receptor, namely human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Why dentistry is a risk branch? The COVID-19 virus was recently identified in saliva of infected patients. Saliva can have a pivotal role in the human-to-human transmission. Dentists and other healthcare professionals that perform aerosol-generating procedures may be unknowingly providing direct care for infected but not yet diagnosed COVID-19 patients, or those considered to be suspected cases for surveillance. As in bronchoscopy, inhalation of airborne particles and aerosols produced during dental procedures on patients with COVID-19 can be a high-risk procedure in which dentists are directly and closely exposed to this virus. Therefore, it is crucial for dentists to refine preventive strategies to avoid the COVID-19 infection by focusing on patient placement, hand hygiene and all personal protective equipment (PPE).
Figure taken from “Transmission routes of 2019-nCoV and controls in dental practice” – Peng et al. 2020 Due to the characteristics of dental settings, the risk of cross infections may be high between dental practitioners and patients. For dental practices and hospitals all over the world (the outbreak is pandemic), strict and effective infection control protocols are urgently needed. Due to the unique characteristics of dental procedures where a large number of droplets and aerosols could be generated, the standard protective measures in daily clinical work are not effective enough to prevent the spread of COVID-19, especially when patients are in the incubation period, are unaware they are infected or choose to conceal their infection. What can dentists do to protect themselves and patients? Hand hygiene has been considered the most critical measure for reducing the risk of transmitting microorganism to patients (Larson et al. 2000). SARS-CoV-2 can persist on surfaces for a few hours or up to several days, depending on the type of surface, the temperature or the humidity of the environment (WHO 2020c). This reinforces the need for good hand hygiene and the importance of thorough disinfection of all surfaces within dental clinics. Every surface in the waiting room must be considered at risk; therefore, in addition to providing adequate periodic air exchange, all surfaces, chairs, magazines and doors that come into contact with healthcare professionals and patients must be considered “potentially infected”. It may be useful to make alcoholic disinfectants and masks available to patients in waiting rooms. The entire air conditioning system must be sanitized very frequently. The use of personal protective equipment (including masks, gloves, gowns and goggles or face shields) is recommended to protect skin and mucosa from (potentially) infected blood or secretions. As respiratory droplets are the main route of SARS-CoV-2 transmission, particulate respirators (e.g., N-95 masks authenticated by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health or FFP2-standard masks set by the European Union) are recommended for the routine dental practice. The English researcher and writer John Dotz wrote a really interesting post on the differences between the various type of masks.
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-Compiled from Pubmed Resources.
