- Pre-procedural mouth rinse is an effective method to reduce the viral loads in oral fluid.
- Oxidative agents such as hydrogen peroxide are more effective than chlorhexidine.
- Panoramic radiography is an appropriate alternative during the outbreak, since intraoral x-ray can stimulate saliva secretion and coughing.
- Absorbable suture is preferred over non-absorbable
- For simple extraction, treat the patient in a supine position to avoid working in his breath way.
These statements come from several review articles recently published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, the International Journal of Oral Science and the Journal of Dental Research. The recommendations are mainly based on the previous experiences from SARS and the previous studies in infection control of dental setting.
Sources:
- Zi-yu GE, Lu-ming YANG, Jia-jia XIA, Xiao-hui FU, Yan-zhen ZHANG. (February 26, 2020). Possible aerosol transmission of COVID-19 and special precautions in dentistry. Journal of Zhejiang University.
https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.B2010010 - Gianrico Spagnuolo, Danila De Vito, Sandro Rengo, and Marco Tatullo. (March 18, 2020). COVID-19 Outbreak: An Overview on Dentistry, Yokohama, Japan, 2020. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17062094 - Xian Peng, Xin Xu, Yuqing Li, Lei Cheng, Xuedong Zhou and Biao Ren. (March 3, 2020). Transmission routes of 2019-nCoV and controls in dental practice. International Journal of Oral Science.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41368-020-0075-9 - L. Meng, F. Hua , and Z. Bian. (March 3, 2020). Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Emerging and Future Challenges for Dental and Oral Medicine. Journal of Dental Research
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