Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and challenges in dental practices

Abstract

The Covid-19 virus appearing in Wuhan in December, 2019 and acting by binding to ACE-2 receptors in the respiratory system has caused many people to die by spreading to the whole world. The virus, which has been detected to spread faster than SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV viruses, spreads from person to person rapidly.  People should not be together because it is transmitted from person to person through the respiratory tract.  For this reason, it is recommended not to go to health institutions, provided that it is not urgent.  However, many emergency patients go to dental clinics and hospitals for treatment. In this review; with possible contamination routes of Covid-19 such as airborne spread, contact spread and contaminated surface spread during patient diagnosis and treatment to prevent Covid-19 contamination, methods preventing spread such as hand hygiene, personal protective measures for dentists, intraoral rubber dam before dental procedures were indicated. It was also mentioned that the fast rotating tool with valves having negative pressure should be used and most importantly, the materials used in the dental clinic should be disposed in accordance with medical waste protocol.

How to cite this article:

Çelebi A, Eroğlu Çakmakoğlu E. Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and challenges in dental practices. Int Dent Res 2020;10(3):100-15. https://doi.org/10.5577/intdentres.2020.vol10.n3.5

Linguistic Revision: The English in this manuscript has been checked by at least two professional editors, both native speakers of English.