Personal protective equipment against coronavirus in the field of dentistry: A rapid review

Abstract

Introduction: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) disease can be transmitted through direct or indirect contact of droplets. The aim of this study was rapid review of personal protective equipments in the field of dentistry against coronavirus.Method: This study was a rapid review and cross sectional research. A search was performed in Scopus and PubMed. The key words was PPE) personal protective equipment( with "Corona virus "OR "Coronavirus" OR "Covid 19" as well as the combination of "oral health" and "dent" with "Corona virus" OR "Covid 19" OR "coronavirus". Finally, we selected 9 articles and excluded 545 unrelated articles. We reviewed these 9 studies in full text and excluded 2 of them being unrelated to the review of personal protective equipment.Results: A study showed that patients with Covid-19 who do not yet have symptoms may seek emergency treatment. Two researchers concluded that dentists had good information about how the virus was transmitted but did not know its symptoms well. A study concluded that the use of filtering face piece respirators (FFRs) during the Covid-19 epidemic is essential to prevent the transmission of aerosols and droplets, as it has been shown to be more fluid-resistant and better than surgical masks which cause flooding around the mouth and nose. Conclusion: This study shows that to some extent a significant number of dentists do not have enough information about the disease and proper personal protective equipment. This may be due to the lack of precise operating instructions.