A critical appraisal of evidence in the use of preprocedural mouthwash to avoid SARS-CoV-2 transmission during oral interventions.

Sette-de-Souza, P H; Soares Martins, J C; Martins-de-Barros, A V; Rodrigues Vieira, B; Fernandes Costa, M J; da Costa Araújo, F A

OBJECTIVE The study aimed to review and report the current evidence supporting the use of mouthwashes as a preprocedural protocol on dental offices. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study is a secondary one that performed a comprehensive literature search of scientific studies published up to 10th August 2020 in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Scientific Electronic Library Online (Scielo) databases. The electronic search strategy was performed using free text and DeCS/MeSH terms. RESULTS Only five studies were included in this work, despite 140 studies that were identified with the research strategy. In vivo studies were carried out in two works, in vitro studies were described in two papers, and a in silico approach was used in one work. No cetylpyridinium chloride studies were identified, while chlorhexidine and povidone studies were more studied. CONCLUSIONS There is reduced evidence about how preprocedural mouthwashes decrease SARS-CoV-2 salivary load.