Authors : Akshai Kannan, Akshai Kannan, Vaibhav Jain, Vaibhav Jain, Merekhna Raghavan, Merekhna Raghavan
DOI : 10.18231/j.idjsr.2021.012
Volume : 9
Issue : 2
Year : 2021
Page No : 62-67
The epidemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emanated from Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and has become a major public health challenge for countries around the world including India. This new virus seems to be very contagious and has quickly spread globally. Due to the characteristics of dental practice the risk of cross infection is high. The emphasis of dental practice during the pandemic and the second wave of infections has changed from cessation/reduction of elective cases requiring dental treatment and according to priority to emergency cases.Although patients with symptomatic COVID-19 have been the main source of transmission, recent observations suggest that asymptomatic patients and patients in their incubation period are also carriers of SARS-CoV-2. Most patients experienced fever and dry cough, while some also had shortness of breath, fatigue, and other atypical symptoms, such as muscle pain, confusion, headache, sore throat, diarrhoea, and vomiting.The dental chair and all equipment to be used must be wiped with isopropyl alcohol prior to seating of the patient. Preoperative antimicrobial mouth rinse could reduce the number of microbes in the oral cavity Therefore, extraoral dental radiographies, such as panoramic radiography and cone beam CT, are appropriate alternatives during the outbreak of COVID-19. Adherence to protocol and being vigilant will help other dental colleges /centres/clinics across India and the world to carry out routine emergency treatment in such trying times where utmost importance must be given to personal protection at all costs at the same time deliver quality oral health care.
Keywords : Covid 19, Dental treatment, Emergency dental treatment, Donning & doffing, PPE KIT.