Abstract
The world is currently changing due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and the field of dentistry is no stranger to this. The care of patients in the dental office involves very strict biosafety protocols, and patients must be aware of the protection barriers implemented to allow satisfactory, safe dental care. The purpose of this study was to synthesize and analyze the management of the current biosafety standards for dental patients since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. A bibliographic search of the main sources of information including MEDLINE (by means of PubMed), Scopus, Science Direct, SCIELO, and Google Scholar was carried out. Articles published without language restriction, systematic reviews, literature reviews, and observational studies were included. We identified the biosafety measures that must be taken before, during, and after dental practice following the arrival of COVID-19. The main measures include telephone triage, temperature taking on arrival at the office, the organization of the waiting room, washing hands before entering the office, knowing the auxiliary radiographic exams of choice and what type of treatment can be performed, albeit with restrictions. In conclusion, dental patients must comply with all the biosafety measures established by international protection standards and implemented by dentists before, during, and after dental practice to reduce the possibility of COVID-19 infection.
Highlights
The world is currently changing due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and the field of dentistry is no stranger to this
On December 31, the Wuhan Municipal Health Department (Hubei Province, China) notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of several cases of pneumonia of unknown origin, and due to the aggressive spread of the virus, a global pandemic was declared on March 11, 2020.2 The main routes of transmission of this virus are by close contact and by contact through droplets of the respiratory tract when an infected individual coughs, sneezes, or speaks.[3,4]
If the patient is in an acute febrile state, dental care will be stopped, the appointment rescheduled, and the patient will be advised to go to the doctor.[14,15]
Summary
The world is currently changing due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and the field of dentistry is no stranger to this. Dental patients must comply with all the biosafety measures established by international protection standards and implemented by dentists before, during, and after dental practice to reduce the possibility of COVID-19 infection. Patients in dental services are exposed to COVID-19 infection if dental professionals do not comply with the biosafety protection measures implemented by the COVID-19 regulations, which include the number and type of patients attended, facial barriers, body protection, disinfection of environments, and social distancing.[9] It is important to point out that protection protocol measures should involve the personnel who provide dental care, and the patients to reduce cross-contagion.[10,11] Faulty control of patient protection can lead to contamination of the office environment, the personnel and even the patients themselves, further increasing contagion.[11]. In the event of any dental emergency, it is essential to acquire information through the medical history in which the patient must report the presence of any Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness e43
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