https://doi.org/10.23805/JO.2020.12.01.11

Prevention and safety in the dental office after Novel Human Coronavirus outbreak: unresolved questions and future directions

Vol. 12 No. 2 (2020)
Published: 15 April 2020
SARS-CoV-2, dental public health, infection control, transmission
Abstract Views: 2536
pdf: 1877
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Authors

V. Spicciarelli
valentina.spicciarelli@gmail.com
Department of Medical Biotechnologies, Unit of Endodontics and Restorative Dentistry, University of Siena, Siena, Italy, Italy.
C. Marruganti
University of Siena, Italy.
M. Viviano
Department of Medica Biotechnologies, Unit of Oral Pathology, University of Siena, Siena, Italy, Italy.
N. Baldini
Department of Medical Biotechnologies, Unit of Oral Surgery and Implantology, University of Siena, Siena, Italy, Italy.
G. Franciosi
Department of Medical Biotechnologies, Unit of Endodontics and Restorative Dentistry, University of Siena, Siena, Italy, Italy.
M. Tortoriello
Department of Medical Biotechnologies, Unit of Oral Pathology, University of Siena, Siena, Italy, Italy.
S. Grandini
Department of Medical Biotechnologies, Unit of Endodontics and Restorative Dentistry, University of Siena, Siena, Italy, Italy.

Aim Since the outbreak of the Novel Human Coronavirus epidemic, researchers around the world focused their efforts on tackling this global emergency. Research labs are joining forces to find a therapy and a preventive vaccine. Preventive and extraordinary safety measures are crucial to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2) among Health-Care Professionals (HCP). HCP performing or assisting aerosol-generating procedures are classified as "very high exposure risk" workers. New findings suggest that saliva delivered through cough, droplets released through normal breathing and oral mucosa represents a vector of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Consequently, viruses can be easily vehiculated by most of dental procedures and it is essential for dental offices to change the operating modes. The present narrative review aimed to gather evidence in order to propose operative guidelines to reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the dental offices. Emphasis was also given to unresolved questions about COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) diagnostics and future directions to improve the preventive and safety measures in daily dental practice.

Results Operative guidelines aimed to reduce the risk of transmission in the dental office are drawn and described.

Conclusion A rapid and reliable diagnostic test detecting COVID-19 positive patients upon arrival at the dental office could allow dental HCP to work in "semi-ordinary" conditions; infected or suspected patients would be postponed or treated only in case of a real emergency employing high-level PPE and extraordinary preventive strategies.

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V. Spicciarelli, Department of Medical Biotechnologies, Unit of Endodontics and Restorative Dentistry, University of Siena, Siena, Italy

Medical Staff Dentist at in the Unit of Endodontics and Restorative Dentistry, University of Siena, Siena, Italy

S. Grandini, Department of Medical Biotechnologies, Unit of Endodontics and Restorative Dentistry, University of Siena, Siena, Italy

Full Professor of Endodontics and Restorative Dentistry, University of Siena, Siena, Italy

How to Cite

Spicciarelli, V., Marruganti, C., Viviano, M., Baldini, N., Franciosi, G., Tortoriello, M., & Grandini, S. (2020). Prevention and safety in the dental office after Novel Human Coronavirus outbreak: unresolved questions and future directions. Journal of Osseointegration, 12(2), 145–153. https://doi.org/10.23805/JO.2020.12.01.11

The Journal of Osseointegration has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.