Abstract
The reach of Coronavirus Disease - 2019 (COVID-19) has even reached the ethical guidelines for good practice from the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA).The health care worker should carefully consider the guidance outlined in several of the booklets as patient treatment has multiple dimensions where COVID-19 had impacted on clinical practice. Due to the nature of dentistry and aerosol generation, special care must be taken when treating healthy patients and patients that are carriers but do not realise that they are COVID-19 positive.COVID-19 transmission and aerosol dissemination may expose the practice team to hazards of infection. The risk is elevated when implementing aerosol generating procedures without any protective equipment. The oral health care worker (OHCW) and staff thus require the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) as suggested by country-specific guidelines, for example, The South African Dental Association (SADA).To this extent, practicing dentistry in the 21st century is complex and amidst the current COVID-19 pandemic the OHCW is presented with more pitfalls. As the pandemic is showing no sign of abating in SA, this has presented the OHCW with a range of additional ethical considerations.These dilemmas may be resolved in a variety of ways following an understanding of the basic knowledge of core ethical values and standards for good practice outlined by the HPCSA guidelines.
Highlights
INTRODUCTIONThe reach of Coronavirus Disease - 2019 (COVID-19) has even reached the ethical guidelines for good practice from the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA).[1]
The reach of Coronavirus Disease - 2019 (COVID-19) has even reached the ethical guidelines for good practice from the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA).[1]The health care worker should carefully consider the guidance outlined in several of the booklets as patient treatment has multiple dimensions where COVID-19 had impacted on clinical practice
The exact means the oral health care worker (OHCW) should consider to navigate various scenarios might change in the coming months with continuous updates from HPCSA, South African Dental Association (SADA) and Dental Protection Limited (DPL), for example, “do no harm” and the “best welfare” to the patient will remain at the centre of such ethical considerations
Summary
The reach of Coronavirus Disease - 2019 (COVID-19) has even reached the ethical guidelines for good practice from the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA).[1]. The oral health care worker (OHCW) and staff require the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) as suggested by country-specific guidelines, for example, The South African Dental Association (SADA).[2]. To this extent, practicing dentistry in the 21st century is complex[3] and amidst the current COVID-19 pandemic the OHCW is presented with more pitfalls. As the pandemic is showing no sign of abating in SA, this has presented the OHCW with a range of additional ethical considerations These dilemmas may be resolved in a variety of ways following an understanding of the basic knowledge of core ethical values and standards for good practice outlined by the HPCSA guidelines.[1]. The exact means the OHCW should consider to navigate various scenarios might change in the coming months with continuous updates from HPCSA, SADA and Dental Protection Limited (DPL), for example, “do no harm” and the “best welfare” to the patient will remain at the centre of such ethical considerations
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