Recommendations for Safe Dental Care: A Systematic Review of Clinical Practice Guidelines in the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Deana, Naira Figueiredo; Seiffert, Andrea; Aravena‐Rivas, Yanela; Alonso‐Coello, Pablo; Muñoz-Millán, Patricia; Espinoza-Espinoza, Gerardo; Pineda, Patricia; Zaror, Carlos

doi:10.3390/ijerph181910059

Cited by 25 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Oral health care services were negatively influenced, both because the activity in the dental clinics were forced to be reorganized in order to limit the spread of the virus [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ], but also because a great part of the dentists and periodontists were under significant psychological pressure and distress levels [ 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Months after reopening the dental offices, studies showed that the probability of COVID-19 contamination within dental clinics was very low [ 15 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oral Habits during the Lockdown from the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in the Romanian Population

et al. 2022

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Background and Objectives: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic led to changes in population daily patterns. In order to adapt oral health promotion measures for future similar conditions, the main objective of the study was to assess changes in dental hygiene and eating and smoking habits during the government lockdown in Romania. Materials and Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted immediately after the end of the lockdown and consisted of 800 adult subjects. Data collection was done via an online survey. Participants were divided into two groups: non-medical/dental practitioners (N-M/D group) and medical/dental practitioners (M/D group). Results: An increased use of dental floss from 27% (pre-lockdown) to 30.5% (during lockdown) was identified in the M/D group, while the manual toothbrush usage increased to 64.8% (during lockdown) from 61.7% (pre-lockdown) in the N-MD/group. No significant differences regarding toothbrushing frequency were observed in either group. A change in the number of daily snacks was identified in both groups (3–4 snacks per day: from 11% to 20.2% in the N-M/D group, from 13.1% to 22.2% in the M/D group). The consumption of sweets as a preferred snack was also noticed. A decrease of tobacco consumers was assessed in the lockdown period (from 66.6% to 60.4% in the M/D group, from 68.5% to 61.9% in the N-/M/D group). Conclusions: Oral habits were changed during the pandemic lockdown through the increase in the frequency of the consumption of snacks and sweets and the decrease in frequency of smokers. Only minor changes were observed in oral hygiene.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oral Habits during the Lockdown from the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in the Romanian Population

et al. 2022

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“…The clinical practice biosafety guidelines, developed during the first year of the pandemic, offer recommendations which guide dental staff in providing safe dental care in the clinical environment. Such recommendations must be updated as new evidence of virus properties arises [68,69]. There is a high level of agreement between different dental specializations about the necessary preventive measures of the routes of transmission.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dental Care and Education Facing Highly Transmissible SARS-CoV-2 Variants: Prospective Biosafety Setting: Prospective, Single-Arm, Single-Center Study

Thurzo

Urbanová

Waczulíková

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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With the arrival of the highly transmissible Omicron variants (BA.4 and BA.5), dentistry faces another seasonal challenge to preserve the biosafety of dental care and education. With the aim of protecting patients, students, teachers and healthcare professionals, this paper introduces a prospective sustainable biosafety setting for everyday dental care and education. The setting developed by dental clinicians, epidemiologists, and teachers of dentistry consists of a combination of modern technologies focused on the air-borne part of the viral pathway. The introduced biosafety setting has been clinically evaluated after 18 months of application in the real clinical environment. The protocol has three fundamental pillars: (1) UVC air disinfection; (2) air saturation with certified virucidal essences with nebulizing diffusers; (3) complementary solutions including telehealth and 3D printing. A pseudonymous online smart form was used as the evaluation method. The protocol operates on the premise that everybody is a hypothetical asymptomatic carrier. The results of a clinical evaluation of 115 patient feedbacks imply that no virus transmission from patient to patient or from doctor to nurse was observed or reported using this protocol, and vice versa, although nine patients retrospectively admitted that the clinic visit is likely to be infectious. Despite these promising results, a larger clinical sample and exposition to the current mutated strains are needed for reliable conclusions about protocol virucidal efficiency in current dental environments.

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“…The high risk of virus transmission, together with the existence of asymptomatic patients, forces dentists to consider all patients as potentially infected [ 5 ]. In addition, some health institutions worldwide, such as the National Health Commission (NHC) of the People’s Republic of China, the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), The Association of Cantonal Dentists in Switzerland (VKZS) and the Swiss Dental Association (SSO) [ 9 ], the American Dental Association (ADA) [ 10 ], and the World Health Organization (WHO) [ 7 ], have recommended the use of oral antiseptics as agents that can reduce the viral load of SARS-CoV-2 before dental procedures [ 11 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oral Antiseptics against SARS-CoV-2: A Literature Review

Bernal

Reyes-Uribe

Salazar-Flores

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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Dentists are health care workers with the highest risk of exposure to COVID-19, because the oral cavity is considered to be a reservoir for SARS-CoV-2 transmission. The identification of SARS-CoV-2 in saliva, the generation of aerosols, and the proximity to patients during dental procedures are conditions that have led to these health care workers implementing additional disinfection strategies for their protection. Oral antiseptics are widely used chemical substances due to their ability to reduce the number of microorganisms. Although there is still no evidence that they can prevent the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, some preoperative oral antiseptics have been recommended as control measures, by different health institutions worldwide, to reduce the number of microorganisms in aerosols and droplets during dental procedures. Therefore, this review presents the current recommendations for the use of oral antiseptics against SARS-CoV-2 and analyzes the different oral antiseptic options used in dentistry.

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Recommendations for Safe Dental Care: A Systematic Review of Clinical Practice Guidelines in the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Cited by 25 publications

References 42 publications

Oral Habits during the Lockdown from the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in the Romanian Population

Oral Habits during the Lockdown from the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in the Romanian Population

Dental Care and Education Facing Highly Transmissible SARS-CoV-2 Variants: Prospective Biosafety Setting: Prospective, Single-Arm, Single-Center Study

Oral Antiseptics against SARS-CoV-2: A Literature Review

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