Dental Practice Infection Control Measurements: Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreaks

Ayyed, Ahmed Basheer

A new coronavirus disease called COVID-19 has been considered to be a public health emergency of international apprehension by the WHO. This new disease includes multiple symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat, and rhinorrhea. The disease is mild in most people; however, in some patients, it may develop to pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and multiple dysfunctions in the organs which may lead to death. There are two routes of transmission for this virus, the first route is the direct transmission, through cough or droplet inhalation, while the second route is through contact, for example, contact with oral and nasal mucous membranes; consequently, extensive and intensive measures should be taken to decrease the transmission of COVID-19 from person to person. Due to the nature of dental work and its procedures, the dental professionals are in a high risk of transmission. Hence, in this article, we wanted to highlight the clinical features, trajectories of spread, and infection control considerations to prevent and control the spread of this fatal disease. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Ayyed AB. Dental Practice Infection Control Measurements: Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreaks. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2020;13(3):279–283.