Abstract
BackgroundThe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world is unprecedented, posing greater threats to vulnerable healthcare systems, especially in developing countries. This study aimed to assess the knowledge of dental healthcare providers in Nigeria about the disease and evaluate their responses to the preventive measures necessitated by COVID-19.MethodsThis was an online self-administered questionnaire-based study conducted among dentists practicing in Nigeria. A message containing the link to the survey was sent widely via social medial platforms and electronic mails to dentists practicing in Nigeria. The data collection was done between the 2nd of June and 3rd of July 2020.ResultsA total of 314 responses was recorded. Fever was the most specified generalized symptom (97.5%), while the use of masks (100%), hand hygiene (99.7%), social distancing (97.7%) and surface cleaning (99.4%) were the most commonly employed general preventive methods. The main identified risk of transmission in the clinic was aerosol generating procedures (98.7%).ConclusionThe general knowledge of dental personnel in our study population appears to be adequate on the common clinical features of COVID-19 but less adequate regarding the less common features. The COVID-19 pandemic has also modified some aspects of dental service delivery but more needs to be done in this regard. Preventive measures against the transmission of COVID-19 in dental practice settings include proper utilization of teledentistry, clinical triage, preprocedural 1% hydrogen peroxide oral rinses, and the use of appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) which should always be encouraged.
Highlights
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world is unprecedented, posing greater threats to vulnerable healthcare systems, especially in developing countries
The world had experienced several viral epidemics (such as the highly pathogenic influenza virus (H5N1), swine flu (H1N1), avian influenza, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), Ebola, and Zika) which were successfully combated by appropriate preventive public health measures and targeted research[1, 2]
The respondents opined that routine extractions, impression making and orthodontic treatment are not aerosol generating procedures (AGPs)
Summary
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world is unprecedented, posing greater threats to vulnerable healthcare systems, especially in developing countries. A novel human coronavirus which was originally reported in Wuhan, China in December, 2019, designated as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is responsible for the outbreak currently plaguing the world[4, 5]. This has been an unprecedented situation with severe economic implications across the globe[6,7,8]. According to the WHO situation report of June 28, 2020 update on COVID-19, over 9,843,073 cases and 495,760 deaths have been reported worldwide[9]
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