Aerosol Management in Dentistry: An Update for Safe Covid-19 Clinical Practice

Abstract

Patient safety and health worker safety from infectious diseases as well as occupational hazards is of utmost importance in every field of medicine. Bioaerosols and splatters generated by air syringes, ultrasonic scalers and high-speed turbine handpieces during dental treatment pose a potential hazard of infection not only to the patients but, to the dentists, dental hygienists, dental assistants as well as other healthcare workers. Severe infectious diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), influenza, measles, tuberculosis, hepatitis, HIV AIDS can be transmitted through aerosols. With the emergence of β-coronavirus (COVID-19), questions concerning the protection from such viral transmission in dental hospital setting have arisen due to close contact and its transmission through the exposure of saliva, blood and other body fluids. Guidelines from regulatory organizations such as CDC regarding infection control in healthcare settings and infection prevention practices should be strictly followed.A systematic electronic search with relevant key terms viz. Aerosol Management, Dental Aerosols, Dentistry and COVID-19, Dental Unit Waterlines, Preprocedural Mouth rinsing, High Volume Suction Evacuators (HVE) and CDC Guidelines was executed in PubMed and Medline databases for literature extraction and data has been interpreted by including articles based on predefined inclusion criteria .In this review article, we address the importance of understanding and implementation of dental safety by following various systems for management of dental aerosols