Preprint Review Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Overview of Trans-National Recommendations for COVID-19 Transmission Control in Dental Care Settings

Version 1 : Received: 18 April 2020 / Approved: 20 April 2020 / Online: 20 April 2020 (02:14:36 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Jamal, M., Shah, M., Almarzooqi, S.H., Aber, H., Khawaja, S., El Abed, R., Alkhatib, Z. and Samaranayake, L.P. (2020), Overview of transnational recommendations for COVID‐19 transmission control in dental care settings. Oral Dis. Accepted Author Manuscript. doi:10.1111/odi.13431 Jamal, M., Shah, M., Almarzooqi, S.H., Aber, H., Khawaja, S., El Abed, R., Alkhatib, Z. and Samaranayake, L.P. (2020), Overview of transnational recommendations for COVID‐19 transmission control in dental care settings. Oral Dis. Accepted Author Manuscript. doi:10.1111/odi.13431

Abstract

On March 11th 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV2) as a pandemic. Until an effective treatment or a vaccine is developed, the current recommendations are to contain the disease, and control its transmission. It is now clear that the primary mode of SARS-CoV2 transmission is aerosol/droplet spread, and by contacting virus contaminated surfaces acting as fomites (inanimate vectors). Furthermore, recent data indicate that the live virus particles are present in saliva, and, more alarmingly, asymptomatic individuals may transmit the infection. By virtue of the nature of the practice of dentistry where intrinsically, a high volume of aerosols are produced, as well as the close proximity of dentists and patients during treatment, dentists and allied dental staff are considered the highest risk health professional group for acquiring SARS-CoV2 during patient management. Therefore, several organizations and specialty associations have proposed guidelines and recommendations for limiting the transmission of SARS-COV2 from carriers to dentists and vice versa. This paper aims to provide a review of these guidelines, and concludes with a brief look at how the practice of dentistry may be impacted by COVID-19, in the post-pandemic era.

Keywords

coronavirus; COVID-19; SARS-CoV2; dentistry; oral health; transmission

Subject

Medicine and Pharmacology, Dentistry and Oral Surgery

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