Impacts of novel pandemic coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak on dental practice: A review of the current literature

Abstract

The World Health Organization announced that the outbreaks of the novel coronavirus have constituted a public health emergency of international concern. The epidemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), originating in Wuhan, China, has become a major public health challenge for not only China but also for countries around the world. As for April 12, 2020, COVID-19 has been recognized in almost all the countries around the globe, with a total of 1,696,588 laboratory-confirmed cases and 105,952 deaths. Inhalation or contact with infected droplets is the main rout of disease transmission and the incubation period ranges from 2 to 14 days. Fever, cough, sore throat, breathlessness, fatigue, malaise are the symptoms of the disease. In most people the disease is mild or asymptomatic but in some (usually the elderly and those with comorbidities) the disease is fatal because of progress to pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and multi-organ dysfunction. Urgently infection control measures are necessary to prevent the virus from further spreading and to help control the epidemic situation. One of the characteristics of dental settings is the risk of cross infection can be high between patients and dental practitioners due to the face-to-face communication and the exposure to handling of sharp instruments, saliva, blood, and other body fluids. Staff of dental clinics and hospital plays great roles in preventing the transmission of COVID-19 disease. We strongly recommended all elective and nonessential dental services are immediately must be suspended only emergency treatment should continue with infection control measures during dental practice to block the person-to-person transmission routes in hospitals and dental clinics.