The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on dentistry

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the delivery of health services across the world. The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak to be a global pandemic on 11th March 2020, prompting the closure of dental services worldwide. The main reason for this was the infection risk associated with Aerosol Generating Procedures (AGP), such as the use of high-speed drills (Al-Halabi et al., 2020). During this period, even access to emergency dental care has been limited. A review of the current guidance issued by international organisations and professional bodies regarding the re-opening of dental services showed considerable variation in the safety procedures required. Most sources recommended triage of patients and an emphasis on only emergency and urgent care; wearing filtering facepiece class 2 masks; reducing the risk of transmission; and avoiding AGP. All sources stressed the need to focus on activities that minimise risk to staff, patients and the public, and to support high quality clinical care (CoDER, 2020).