Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department, Rashid Latif Dental College, Rashid Latif Medical Complex, Lahore, Pakistan.
Oral Pathology Department, Rashid Latif Dental College, Rashid Latif Medical Complex, Lahore, Pakistan.
Work. 2022;72(3):819-826. doi: 10.3233/WOR-211102.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic greatly affected dentistry. Dental procedures are considered one of the modes of transfer of COVID-19 infection due to generation of aerosols. To prevent transmission of this virus through dental procedures, guidelines were issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Ministry of Health of each country.
The aim of this study is to establish a safe protocol for performing dental procedures in a crisis capacity situation of personal protective equipment (PPE).
A strategy for performing the dental procedures was formulated in accordance with the guidelines provided by the Ministry of Health, Pakistan before vaccination of HCPs against COVID-19. These guidelines also accorded the strategies provided by the WHO and CDC. 40 health care professionals (HCPs) participated in the study and were divided in two groups. Group A performed non-aerosol generating procedures (non- AGPs) and group B performed aerosol generating procedures (AGPs). A total of 6372 aerosol generating procedures were performed from 1 August 2020 to 31 March 2021. The safety of this protocol was established by the number of HCPs contracting COVID-19 infection.
Only 1 HCP contracted COVID-19 infection preceding the AGPs from group B following the formulated strategy.
Reported strategy based on the dental system in Pakistan is considered safe to be implemented worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 大流行的爆发对牙科产生了巨大影响。由于产生气溶胶，牙科操作被认为是 COVID-19 感染传播的方式之一。为了防止这种病毒通过牙科操作传播，世界卫生组织（WHO）、疾病控制和预防中心（CDC）以及每个国家的卫生部都发布了指南。
本研究旨在制定在个人防护设备（PPE）危机能力情况下进行牙科操作的安全方案。
在卫生保健工作者（HCP）接种 COVID-19 疫苗之前，根据巴基斯坦卫生部提供的指南制定了牙科操作策略。这些指南还符合世界卫生组织和疾病控制和预防中心提供的策略。40 名卫生保健专业人员（HCP）参加了这项研究，并分为两组。组 A 进行非气溶胶产生程序（非 AGP），组 B 进行气溶胶产生程序（AGP）。从 2020 年 8 月 1 日至 2021 年 3 月 31 日，共进行了 6372 次气溶胶产生程序。通过感染 COVID-19 的 HCP 数量来确定该方案的安全性。
在制定的策略之后，仅组 B 的 1 名 HCP 在进行 AGP 之前感染了 COVID-19。
基于巴基斯坦牙科系统的报告策略被认为在 COVID-19 大流行期间在全球范围内实施是安全的。
