The World Health Organization (WHO) advises people to delay routine non-essential oral health care until there is a sufficient reduction in Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmission in the community.
Below is the list of the non-essential oral health care and emergency oral health care, and how COVID-19 can be transmitted in oral health care settings provided by WHO.
According to WHO, routine non-essential oral health care usually includes the following:
Although non-essential oral health care routines are suggested to be delayed, emergency oral health care interventions necessary to preserve a person’s oral functioning and manage severe pain should still be provided.
Emergency oral health care may include the following:
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, transmission can occur through direct, indirect, or close contact with infected people. In oral health care settings, COVID-19 can mainly be transmitted in the following ways:
According to WHO, aerosol-generating procedures (AGPs) – any medical, dental, and patient care procedure that results in the production of airborne particles – are widely performed in oral health care settings worldwide.
If inhaled, the airborne particles produced via AGPs can not only remain suspended in the air but can also travel over a distance and may cause infection.
Since oral health care teams work in close proximity to their patients’ faces and in frequent exposure to body fluids such as saliva, they are at high risk of either being infected with SARS-CoV-2 or passing the infection to their patients.
Public health authorities, chief dental officers at ministries of health, and oral health care personnel working in private and public health sectors may download WHO’s Interim Guidance for other useful information with regards screening and triaging of patients, ventilation in oral health care settings, protection of oral health care personnel and patients during treatment, and more.
The said guidance is called the Considerations for the provision of essential oral health services in the context of COVID-19 and it has been published by the World Health Organization on August 3, 2020.
Looking for more news and updates? Often drop by our Baguio City Guide website and like and follow our official Baguio City Guide Facebook page to catch more of our latest content.
SOURCE
World Health Organization (WHO)
This website uses cookies.