Testing for COVID-19 in dental offices: mechanism of action, application and interpretation of laboratory and point-of-care screening tests

Shirazi, Sajjad; Stanford, Clark M.; Cooper, Lyndon F.

Background The dental office potentially possesses all transmission risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 virus. Anticipating the future widespread use of COVID-19 testing in the dental offices, this article is a proactive effort to provide dental health care providers with current and necessary information surrounding the topic. Methods All relevant and recent guidelines from CDC and FDA, as well as online resources and review articles were consulted. Results Routine COVID-19 screening and triage protocols are unable to detect all infected individuals. With the advancements in diagnostic tools/techniques, COVID-19 testing at home or in the dental office may provide dentists with abilities to evaluate the disease status of their patients. At home or point-of-care tests, providing results within minutes of being administered, would allow for appropriate measures and rapid decisions about dental patients' care process. In this review, we familiarize the reader with current available laboratory and point-of-care COVID-19 screening methods, and, identify and elaborate the options available for use by dentists as well as the regulatory requirements of test administration. Conclusion Dentists need to be familiar with COVID-19 point-of-care testing options. While contributing to public health, such tests may deliver rapid, accurate and actionable results to clinical and infection control teams to enhance the safe patient flow in dental practices.