Dental Care in Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review

Abstract

Given the dynamic relationship between oral and general health, dental care must not be neglected even during a public health emergency. Nevertheless, the fear of contracting the infection appears to have caused instances of dental treatment avoidance. In these times of uncertainty, regulatory and public health organizations have made numerous and sometimes controversial recommendations to practitioners and to the public about how to secure their oral health care needs. Dentists, as advocates of oral health, should actively maintain their practices while considering local epidemiological reports and recommendations regarding prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Providing appropriate safety measures, accurate triage and prioritization of patients, notice to susceptible communities, remote health care delivery when appropriate, and epidemiological reports of COVID-19 (whenever possible) are all critical considerations for dental practitioners.

COVID-19 in dental care: What do we know?

“…Therefore, dentists are advised to perform their duties in a way that limits the dissemination of SARS-CoV-2 and ensures the safety of both dental staff and patients. Accurate triage is a prerequisite of achieving these objectives [ 45 ].…”

“…According to Shamsoddin et al, this group includes patients with chronic diseases and malignancies, pregnant women, nursing home residents and prisoners. All these groups require unlimited access to dental care as their overall health condition is not infrequently worse than in the general population [ 45 ]. The key to success is to reduce the risk of cross-infection with SARS-CoV-2 at no cost to the good oral health of the population.…”

Recovery Complication in Covid - 19 Survivorship: A New Challenge

“…Lack of oral hygiene, opportunistic infections, stress, immunosuppression, vasculitis, and hyper-inflammatory response secondary to COVID-19 are the most important predisposing factors for onset of oral lesions that healed between 3 and 28 days after appearance. Different types of therapies including chlorhexine mouthwash, nystatin, oral fluconazole, topical or systemic corticosteroids, systemic antibiotics, systemic acyclovir, artificial saliva, and photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) were prescribed for oral lesions depends on the (10,11) etiology.…”

Optimizing Safe Dental Practice During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Recommendations Based on a Guide Developed for Dental Practices in China

“…To truly and comprehensively identify studies on the prevention and control of the pandemic in dental practice, the authors used keywords such as "COVID-19, " "SARS-CoV-2, " "COVID-19 dental, " "dental, " and "infection control" on the PubMed and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) websites. It was hoped that the literature would provide insights into the measures and experiences of dental practices in other countries during the COVID-19 pandemic (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16). Among them, Italy, Latin America, and Poland recommend that patients should undergo pretesting and triage, as well as reinforce personal protective equipment (PPE) usage and hand hygiene.…”