Dental Care During COVID-19 Pandemic

Daniela Catalina Martínez Camus & Sebastián Rodolfo Yévenes Huaiquinao

Summary

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Among the population at high risk of contagion is health workers. In particular, dental care due to its characteristics is a risk situation for dental professionals and dental assistants. Therefore, it is necessary to characterize the main routes of transmission of the SARSCoV-2 virus and describe the measures to prevent contagion in the context of dental care. The bibliography of the Pubmed and Scielo databases, in addition to clinical guidelines on dental care, indicate that dental practice is a high-risk situation because dental procedures produce potentially contaminated drops and sprays. Furthermore, there is close contact between the clinician and patient. It is recommended that dentists discontinue elective care, and only perform urgent or emergency procedures. In cases of emergency dental care, hand hygiene, both for the patient and the clinician, is essential. Personal protection barriers should be used, procedures that generate aerosols or drops should be reduced, isolation with rubber dam and ejection using a 4-handed technique should be used. In addition, adequate disinfection of instruments and clinical surfaces is required before and after care. To date, there is no universal protocol for care during the COVID-19 outbreak, the recommendations are constantly evolving as new characteristics of the SARSCoV-2 virus are determined. However, precautionary measures should be taken before, during, and after dental care to reduce the risk of contagion between the patient and dental health personnel.

KEY WORDS: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, dental, dentist.

How to cite this article

MARTÍNEZ, C. D. C. & YÉVENES, H. S. R. Dental care during COVID-19 pandemic. Int. J. Odontostomat., 14(3):288-295, 2020.