Oral Healthcare Management of Children after COVID-19 Outbreak

Abstract

A bstract The emergence of the novel 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a significant challenge to healthcare professionals. Among all the healthcare providers, dental clinical setup is exposed to the generation of potentially hazardous aerosols which could be a point of cross-contamination. Dentists catering to pediatric patients need to take special precautions, as they have milder symptoms or could be asymptomatic and hence potential vectors for the transfer of infection. One needs to change the perspective to manage the oral health of children as a child's oral health presents specific problems that could be time-bound and hence need to be treated accordingly. These problems can be managed on one hand by preventive methods, and on the other by implementing specific protocols relating to the conditions that represent an emergency, or those situations that fall into the category of elective dental procedures. This article highlights the routes of transmission in a dental practice and focuses on the categorization of treatment for children based on treatment needs. It proposes a restructuring of the treatment protocol and hence shifting to minimal invasive or non-aerosol-generating procedures (AGP). These techniques are also proposed to be used even after the end of the current emergency period to minimize the aerosol splatter. Clinical significance The article highlights the protocol that needs to be followed after treatment categorization during and after COVID-19 pandemic. How to cite this article Lamba G, Nagpal DI, Chowdhari P, et al. Oral Healthcare Management of Children after COVID-19 Outbreak. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2021;14(2):293–297.

COVID-19 Related Information on Pediatric Dental Care including the Use of Teledentistry: A Narrative Review

“…The oral and dental needs to be addressed, the procedures to be performed, and the pediatric cases to be treated were reevaluated in terms of the priority of the procedures, with elective treatments deferred whenever possible [ 32 , 33 ].…”

“…Considering the frequent asymptomatic and oligosymptomatic course of COVID-19 in pediatric subjects and the virus incubation period in adult patients, all pedodontic patients had to be considered potential carriers of the disease [ 33 , 39 ].…”

“…Home care of pedodontic patients, which has always been considered essential for children’s oral health, became crucial during the first peak of the COVID-19 pandemic when regular dental care was suspended and remained so during subsequent pandemic waves of restricted and discontinued dental and pedodontic practice [ 17 ]. Indeed, introducing home oral and dental care in children with parental support could reduce the need for non-routine oral and dental check-ups and improve primary prevention strategies in general [ 1 , 7 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ].…”

“…The measures described above, which could be supported in the future by the widespread use of newly developed biotechnological control measures [ 33 ] should be explicitly maintained in the event of a sporadic recurrence of infection in regional nests or areas where the pandemic may last for months.…”

“…In addition to the direct impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection, the COVID-19 pandemic had numerous effects on human health and psychophysical well-being [ 21 , 33 ]. Regarding oral health, during the curfews and quarantines of the COVID-19 pandemic, routine dental care was suspended or postponed [ 1 ], and dental procedures were mainly limited to dental emergencies [ 2 ].…”