J Am Dent Assoc. 2021 Jun;152(6):448-454. doi: 10.1016/j.adaj.2021.02.009. Epub 2021 Mar 2.
Although rates of COVID-19 have remained low among US dentists, the authors aimed to determine the risk of there being COVID-19 in patients seeking oral health care.
The authors performed a retrospective chart review of all emergency department consultations from June 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020. They used Pearson correlation coefficients to compare rates with citywide prevalence (P < .05).
The authors located 203 encounters with 149 tests and 10 cases of COVID-19. Cases were strongly correlated with the citywide positivity rate (r = 0.9147; P = .0039). All patients who tested positive were asymptomatic and afebrile, and one-half (50%) visited a dentist within a week of consultation.
The rate of COVID-19 in a population seeking oral health care reflects the community positivity rate. Asymptomatic or presymptomatic patients pose risks to providers, staff members, and other patients.
Dentists should remain vigilant during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, even with vaccination rollout. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintains an accessible website with easy access to each state's positivity rate and caseload.
尽管美国牙医群体中 COVID-19 的发病率一直保持较低水平，但作者旨在确定寻求口腔保健的患者中 COVID-19 存在的风险。
作者对 2020 年 6 月 1 日至 2020 年 12 月 31 日期间所有急诊部就诊情况进行了回顾性图表审查。他们使用 Pearson 相关系数来比较与全市流行率的相关性（P<0.05）。
作者找到了 203 次就诊记录，涉及 149 次检测和 10 例 COVID-19 病例。病例与全市阳性率呈强相关（r=0.9147；P=0.0039）。所有检测呈阳性的患者均无症状且无发热，其中一半（50%）在就诊后一周内看了牙医。
寻求口腔保健的人群中 COVID-19 的发病率反映了社区阳性率。无症状或症状前患者对提供者、工作人员和其他患者构成风险。
即使在疫苗接种推出的情况下，牙医也应在持续的 COVID-19 大流行期间保持警惕。疾病控制与预防中心维护了一个易于访问的网站，可轻松获取每个州的阳性率和病例数。
