Personal protective equipment against coronavirus in the field of dentistry: A rapid review

Abstract

Background: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) disease can be transmitted through direct or indirect contact with droplets from the infected person's respiratory system. The aim of this study was a rapid review of the use of personal protective equipment against coronavirus in the field of dentistry. Methods: This study was a rapid cross-sectional review and research. A search was performed in Scopus and PubMed. The key words were PPE) personal protective equipment) with "Corona virus" OR "Coronavirus" OR "Covid 19" as well as the combination of "oral health" and "dent" with "Corona virus" OR "Covid 19" OR "coronavirus." Finally, we selected nine articles and excluded 545 irrelevant articles. We reviewed these nine studies in full text and excluded two of them as they were unrelated to the review of personal protective equipment.Results: One study showed that patients with COVID-19 who do not yet have symptoms might seek emergency dental treatment. Two researchers concluded that dentists had good information about how the virus was transmitted but did not know its symptoms well. One study concluded that the use of filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) during the COVID-19 pandemic is essential to preventing exposure to aerosols and droplets, as it is more fluid-resistant and functions better than surgical masks, which cause flooding around the mouth and nose.Conclusion: This study shows that many dentists do not have enough information about the disease and proper personal protective equipment. This may be due to a lack of precise operating instructions.