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Review
. 2020 Oct 31;8(11):1704.
doi: 10.3390/microorganisms8111704.

Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) Pandemic: Future Challenges for Dental Practitioners

Ioana Roxana Bordea  1 , Edit Xhajanka  2 , Sebastian Candrea  3 , Simion Bran  4 , Florin Onișor  4 , Alessio Danilo Inchingolo  5 , Giuseppina Malcangi  5 , Van H Pham  6 , Angelo Michele Inchingolo  5 , Antonio Scarano  7 , Felice Lorusso  7 , Ciro Gargiulo Isacco  8   9   10 , Sergey K Aityan  11 , Andrea Ballini  12   13 , Gianna Dipalma  5 , Francesco Inchingolo  5
Affiliations
Review

Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) Pandemic: Future Challenges for Dental Practitioners

Ioana Roxana Bordea et al. Microorganisms. .

Abstract

In the context of the SARS-CoV-2 (Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) pandemic, the medical system has been subjected to many changes. Face-to-face treatments have been suspended for a period of time. After the lockdown, dentists have to be aware of the modalities to protect themselves and their patients in order not to get infected. Dental practitioners are potentially exposed to a high degree of contamination with SARS-CoV-2 while performing dental procedures that produce aerosols. It should also be noted that the airways, namely the oral cavity and nostrils, are the access pathways for SARS-CoV-2. In order to protect themselves and their patients, they have to use full personal protective equipment. Relevant data regarding this pandemic are under evaluation and are still under test. In this article, we made a synthesis about the way in which SARS-CoV-2 spreads, how to diagnose a novel corona virus infection, what the possible treatments are, and which protective personal equipment we can use to stop its spreading.

Keywords: ACE2 receptor; COVID-19 pandemic in dental practice; COVID-19 risk assessment in dentistry; Coronavirus Disease; Flügge's droplets; MAS superior standard hepa filter; SARS-CoV-2.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Operational considerations for case management of COVID-19 in health facility and community-Interim guidance 19 March 2020 [3].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Conformation of SARS-CoV-2 (figure drawn by Giovanna Dipalma).
Figure 3
Figure 3
The connection of SARS-CoV2 to ACE2(figure inspired by https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/receptors-for-sars-cov-2-present-in-wide-variety-of-human-cells-67496 [48], and drawn by Giovanna Dipalma).
Figure 4
Figure 4
The transmission routes of COVID-19 (figure drawn by Giovanna Dipalma).
Figure 5
Figure 5
The specific Symptoms for COVID-19 (figure drawn by Giovanna Dipalma).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Different kind of masks and their effectiveness regarding the protection for infection with COVID-19 (figure drawn by Giovanna Dipalma).
Figure 7
Figure 7
Eye protection glasses.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Personal protective equipment.
Figure 9
Figure 9
How to protect yourself from the COVID-19 (figure drawn by Giovanna Dipalma).
Figure 10
Figure 10
The sanitising system created by Nasa (https://www.activepure.com/italy-home/, https://beyond.vithagroup.eu/).
Figure 11
Figure 11
Power suction device.
Figure 12
Figure 12
The persistence of SARS-CoV2 on different surfaces (figure drawn by Giovanna Dipalma).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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