Transmission Routes and Infection Control of Novel Coronavirus-2019 in Dental Clinics – A Review

Abstract

The novel Coronavirus (nCoV-19) pandemic began in Wuhan, China with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in December, 2019. The virus transmitted from China to other countries by traveling of the infected individuals. The number of infected populations with Coronavirus is increasing day by day with an increased mortality rate. The signs and symptoms of the disease include fever, non-productive cough, dyspnea, and fatigue. The transmission routes of the virus include respiratory secretions or droplet infection and direct contact with the infected person. Dentists are a group of professionals that are highly exposed to infectious diseases. The nCoV-19 is transmitted from patient to dentist and dentist to patient mainly through aerosol and splatter produced by the dental procedure and saliva of an infected person. To avoid transmission of the virus from patient to dentist and from dentist to other patients, screening tests should be done at dental setups. The use of gloves, face shields, masks, gowns, and antiseptic handwash are mandatory for the dentist. Awareness programs should be conducted to prevent further transmission of the disease. We searched Google, Google Scholar, WHO website for coronavirus and National Institute of Health website (nih.org.pk) for relevant literature by using various MeSH terms including ‘2019-nCoV’, ‘transmission of 2019-nCoV in dental clinics’, ‘dentistry and COVID-19’ and ‘infection control’, etc
Key words: COVID-19, Dental clinics, Infection control, Transmission