Planning the Restorative Dental Treatment at the Time of Coronavirus Pandemic: A Two-arm Strategy

Abstract

The high risk of infection with coronavirus forced dental practices to decline/limit oral healthcare services to emergency and urgent conditions. Under this policy, the economic burden on dental professionals and their employees was immense. With the prolonged duration of coronavirus health crisis, it was clear that dentists and associated workers and companies cannot bear the cost of longer suspension of regular dental services. At this point, calls have been made for gradual return to regular dental clinical practice. However, dental health professionals around the world realized that oral care services should be tailored to fit the time of COVID-19 pandemic. An important question to be raised here is regarding planning the dental treatment during the time of coronavirus pandemic. Should a dentist plan the dental treatment in a different way to that at a normal time? This paper aims to propose a simple strategy to plan the restorative dental treatment at the time of coronavirus pandemic. The aim of this strategy is to expand the range of oral care services and minimize the risk of infection with this deadly virus. The role of the shortened dental concept and minimum use of aerosol- /droplet-generating procedures have been emphasized. Keywords: Coronavirus, COVID-19, Dental treatment, Pandemic, Shortened dental arch.