COVID-19 pandemic and dental hygienists in Italy: a questionnaire survey

Bontà, Giuliana; Campus, Guglielmo; Cagetti, Maria Grazia

doi:10.1186/s12913-020-05842-x

Cited by 23 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 16 publications

(18 reference statements)

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“…The dental profession has not had universal guidelines on how to manage the virus, despite being perceived as having extremely high risk for exposure among all professions 2 , 3 , 4 . However, data from similar studies in Europe and USA showed that the prevalence and the positivity rates among dental professionals/dental hygienists was low, suggesting that current infection control recommendations against COVID-19 could be appropriate [ 8 , 9 , 25 , 26 ]. Similarly, our findings follow the same trend for most countries, where infectivity rate during the performance of the survey could be retrieved ( Tables 2 and 3 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While some countries restricted dental care only to urgencies/emergencies, in others, where the pandemic had subsided or even during the phase of maximum infection rates, dental clinics and offices had returned/continued to also provide non-urgent dental care, but figures from global data are not available. Moreover, limited knowledge at that time, unavailability of tests, availability or incorrect use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and conflicting protocols may have lowered protection among the dental care workforce and patients, potentially increasing the infection rate and transmission 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 . This paper reports findings from the 2020 International Collaborative COVID-19 Disease Study giving, to the best of authors’ knowledge, the only updated worldwide observational epidemiological study on COVID-19 and dental professionals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The COVID-19 pandemic and its global effects on dental practice. An International survey

Campus¹,

Diaz-Betancourt²,

Cagetti³

et al. 2021

Journal of Dentistry

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Objectives A multicentre survey was designed to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 outbreak on dental practice worldwide, estimate the COVID-19 related symptoms/signs, work attitudes and behaviour and the routine use of protective measures and personal protective equipment (PPE). Methods A global survey using a standardized questionnaire with research groups from 36 countries was designed. The questionnaire was developed and pretested during April 2020 and contained three domains: 1) personal data; 2) COVID-19 positive rate and symptoms/signs presumably related to the coronavirus; 3) working conditions and PPE adopted after the outbreak. Countries’ data were grouped by the country positive rate (CPR) during the survey period and by Gross-National-Income per capita. An ordinal multinomial logistic regression model was carried out with COVID-19 self-reported rate referred by dental professionals as dependent variable to assess the association with questionnaire items. Results A total of 52,491 questionnaires were returned with a male/female ratio of 0.63. Out of the total respondents, 7,859 dental professionals (15%) reported symptoms/signs compatible with COVID-19. More than half of the sample (n=27,818; 53%) stated to use FFP2/N95 masks, while 21,558 (41.07%) used eye protection. In the bivariate analysis, CPR and N95/FFP2 were significantly associated (OR=1.80 95% CI=1.60/2.82 and OR=5.20 95% CI=1.44/18.80, respectively), while Gross-National-Income was not statistically associated with CPR (OR=1.09 95% CI=0.97/1.60). The same significant associations were observed in the multivariate analysis . Conclusions Oral health service provision has not been significantly affected by COVID-19, although access to routine dental care was reduced due to country-specific temporary lockdown periods. While the dental profession has been identified at high-risk, the reported rates of COVID-19 for dental professionals were not significantly different to those reported for the general population in each country. These findings may help to better plan oral health care for future pandemic events.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The COVID-19 pandemic and its global effects on dental practice. An International survey

Campus¹,

Diaz-Betancourt²,

Cagetti³

et al. 2021

Journal of Dentistry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Most studies surveyed only dentists; Bontà et al (2020) surveyed only dental hygienists, whereas 3 studies surveyed dentists, dental hygienists, and dental assistants ( Ahmed et al 2020 ; Chaudhary et al 2020 ; Stangvaltaite-Mouhat et al 2020 ). No studies compared responses among the 3 professions to expose differences in their pandemic experiences.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reopening Oral Health Services during the COVID-19 Pandemic through a Knowledge Exchange Coalition

McNally

Rock

Gillis³

et al. 2021

JDR Clinical & Translational Research

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Background: The COVID-19 novel coronavirus closed oral health care in Nova Scotia (NS) Canada in March 2020. Preparing for a phased reopening, a knowledge exchange coalition (representing government, academia, hospitals, oral health professions, and regulators) developed return-to-work (RTW) guidelines detailing the augmentation of standard practices to ensure safety for patients, oral health care providers (OHPs), and the community. Using online surveys, this study explored the influence of the RTW guidelines and related education on registered NS OHPs during a phased return to work. Methods: Dissemination of R2W guidelines included website or email communiques and interdisciplinary education webinars that coincided with 2 RTW phases approved by the government. Aligned with each phase, all registered dentists, dental hygienists, and dental assistants were invited to complete an online survey to gauge the influence of the coalition-sponsored education and RTW guidelines, confidence, preparedness, and personal protective equipment use before and after the pandemic. Results: Three coalition-sponsored multidisciplinary webinars hosted 3541 attendees prior to RTW. The response to survey 1 was 41% (881/2156) and to survey 2 was 26% (571/2177) of registrants. Survey 1 (82%) and survey 2 (89%) respondents “agreed/strongly agreed” that R2W guidelines were a primary source for guiding return to practice, and most were confident with education received and had the skills needed to effectively treat patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Confidence and preparedness improved in survey 2. Gowns/lab coat use for aerosol-generating procedures increased from 26% to 93%, and the use of full face shields rose from 6% to 93% during the pandemic. Conclusions: A multistakeholder coalition was effective in establishing and communicating comprehensive guidelines and web-based education to ensure unified reintegration of oral health services in NS during a pandemic. This multiorganizational cooperation lay the foundation for responses to subsequent waves of COVID-19 and may serve as an example for collaboratively responding to future public health threats in other settings. Knowledge Transfer Statement: The return-to-work strategy that was developed, disseminated, and assessed through this COVID-19 knowledge exchange coalition will benefit oral health practitioners, professional regulators, government policy makers, and researchers in future pandemic planning.

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“…Although all dentists were mindful of the risk of COVID-19, they did not use N95 masks in the dental clinic 25) .…”

Section: Characteristics Of Studies Included In the Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systematic Literature Review on Coronavirus Infectious Disease-19 and Dental Masks

Kim

2021

J Dent Hyg Sci

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Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is transmitted primarily through droplets, and dental practitioners are at risk of occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2 infection owing to direct contact with the patient's mouth, aerosols from dental procedures, and saliva. Wearing a mask is believed to be the best method of protection against infection, and a systematic literature review was conducted on whether the dental masks used in dentistry are effective in preventing Coronavirus Infectious . Methods: We used PubMed, Google Scholar, DBpia, NDSL, and KISS databases for this study. Of the 917 documents narrowed down by the search terms "Coronavirus, COVID-19, and dental," 83 documents were collected and studied. Ultimately, 42 of these papers were selected for analysis after considering duplication from the flow chart of the literature selection process. Results: While dental masks are often used when treating patients with unknown COVID-19 status, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety stated that the use of dental masks is insufficient in preventing cross-transmission of COVID-19; instead, it was recommended that N95 masks, which correspond to KF94 masks, should be worn daily. On the other hand, wearing a dental mask and following precautions such as hand hygiene may not pose a significantly higher risk of infection than wearing an N95 mask when treating COVID-19 patients. Conclusion: There is an ongoing discussion regarding the use of dental masks when treating dental patients, and many argue that different types of masks should be selected according to the degree of infection and the individual's respiratory condition. By considering the safety and efficacy of dental masks in preventing infection, improvements can be made in the management of COVID-19 and dental-related infections.

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COVID-19 pandemic and dental hygienists in Italy: a questionnaire survey

Cited by 23 publications

References 16 publications

The COVID-19 pandemic and its global effects on dental practice. An International survey

The COVID-19 pandemic and its global effects on dental practice. An International survey

Reopening Oral Health Services during the COVID-19 Pandemic through a Knowledge Exchange Coalition

Systematic Literature Review on Coronavirus Infectious Disease-19 and Dental Masks

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