Dental Care for COVID-19 Positive Patients. What to do in an Emergency?

Camila Boin Bakit & Andrés Melián Rivas

Summary

Last December in China, an outbreak of pneumonia caused by a new viral strain of coronavirus or SARSCoV-2, never seen in humans, originated, which aroused worldwide attention. Likewise, on January 30, a public health emergency of international concern was declared by the WHO, marking the start of a highly pathogenic pandemic called "2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19)" that is transmitted from person to person by means of respiratory secretions. The main symptoms that appear in patients are fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, fatigue and general malaise; However, there is a percentage of asymptomatic people who represent a high risk of contagion for health professionals who work in the airway and digestive tract, such as dentist. Consequently, this study aims to show the necessary protection measures so that the health team can intervene in patients diagnosed with COVID-19 safely, avoiding the spread of the disease.

KEY WORDS: COVID-19, dentistry, dental care, security.

How to cite this article

BOIN, B. C. & MELIÁN, R. A. Dental care for COVID-19 positive patients. What to do in an emergency? Int. J. Odontostomat., 14(3):321-324, 2020.