Covid-19 and Dental practice

Abstract

Covid-19 is a corona virus-related disease that was discovered in December 2019. It spreads through saliva droplets produced by sneezing or nasal discharge. It is spreading with a very high rate all over the world. Health-care staff and dental practitioners are at a greater risk of contracting the virus, and they may even spread it to others. This is because the dental practice involves aerosol generation, handling of sharp instruments, in more contact with patient’s saliva and proximity of dental professional to the patient’s oral cavity. So proper precautions should be taken to avoid cross contamination in the dental office. The dental professional should be well prepared to identify the Covid-19 patients by their history, symptoms and lab investigations and be able to refer the patient for further medical treatment for this infectious disease. This article elaborates the characteristic of the virus, modes of transmission, precautions to be taken for patients as well as dental professional and overall patient management in this pandemic situation..