An outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in China has influenced every aspect of life. Healthcare professionals, especially dentists, are exposed to a higher risk of getting infected due to close contact with infected patients. The current study was conducted to assess anxiety and fear of getting infected among dentists while working during the current novel coronavirus diseases (COVID-19) outbreak. In addition, dentists' knowledge about various practice modifications to combat COVID-19 has been evaluated. A cross-sectional study was conducted using an online survey from 10th to 17th March 2020. The well-constructed questionnaire was designed and registered at online website (Kwiksurveys) and validated. A total of 669 participants from 30 different countries across the world responded. After scrutiny, completed questionnaires (n = 650) were included in the study. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 25. Chi-Square and Spearman correlation tests were applied to control confounders and assess the relation of dentists' response with respect to gender and educational level. More than two-thirds of the general dental practitioners (78%) from 30 countries questioned were anxious and scared by the devastating effects of COVID-19. A large number of dentists (90%) were aware of recent changes in the treatment protocols. However, execution of amended treatment protocol was recorded as 61%. The majority of the dentists (76%) were working in the hospital setting out of which 74% were from private, and 20% were from government setups. Individually we received a large number of responses from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, but collectively more than 50% of the responses were from other parts of the world. Despite having a high standard of knowledge and practice, dental practitioners around the globe are in a state of anxiety and fear while working in their respective fields due to the COVID-19 pandemic impact on humanity. A number of dental practices have either modified their services according to the recommended guidelines to emergency treatment only or closed down practices for an uncertain period.

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/8/2821/pdf

Fear and Practice Modifications among Dentists to Combat Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak.

Although the unprecedented efforts the world has been taking to control the spread of the human coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and its causative aetiology [severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)], the number of confirmed cases has been increasing drastically Therefore, there is an urgent need for devising more efficient preventive measures, to limit the spread of the infection until an effective treatment or vaccine is available The preventive measures depend mainly on the understanding of the transmission routes of this virus, its environmental stability, and its persistence on common touch surfaces Due to the very limited knowledge about SARS-CoV-2, we can speculate its stability in the light of previous studies conducted on other human and animal coronaviruses In this review, we present the available data on the stability of coronaviruses (CoVs), including SARS-CoV-2, from previous reports to help understand its environmental survival According to available data, possible airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has been suggested SARS-CoV-2 and other human and animal CoVs have remarkably short persistence on copper, latex and surfaces with low porosity as compared to other surfaces like stainless steel, plastics, glass and highly porous fabrics It has also been reported that SARS-CoV-2 is associated with diarrhoea and that it is shed in the faeces of COVID-19 patients Some CoVs show persistence in human excrement, sewage and waters for a few days These findings suggest a possible risk of faecal-oral, foodborne and waterborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in developing countries that often use sewage-polluted waters in irrigation and have poor water treatment systems CoVs survive longer in the environment at lower temperatures and lower relative humidity It has been suggested that large numbers of COVID-19 cases are associated with cold and dry climates in temperate regions of the world and that seasonality of the virus spread is suspected

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/tbed.13707

Stability of SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses in the environment and on common touch surfaces and the influence of climatic conditions: A review.

Natural Ventilation for Infection Control in Health-Care Settings

The latest diffusion of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), responsible for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), has involved the whole world population. Even if huge efforts to control the pandemic have been done, the viral spread is still continuing. COVID-19 is reported as a zoonosis jumped from bats and pangolins to humans. After infection in humans, SARS-CoV-2 is found in the nasopharyngeal and salivary secretions. The virus has also been detected in the blood plasma of infected patients. The viral spread occurs through droplets exhaled from the nose and mouth of the infected people when they breath or talk, or through droplets propelled as a dense cloud by chough or sneeze. The virus can also be delivered as an aerosol from blood plasma, through surgical procedures. Following these ways, the virus can disperse in the air, then reaching and settling on the exposed surfaces. How long the virus will survive on a surface depends on the material the surface is made from. Infection via high-touch surfaces should be prevented. Copper alloy coatings, combined with efficient hygienic/disinfectant procedures and careful surgical practice, could be helpful to health protection in dental practice and can also be adopted in orthopedic traumatology.

/pdf/copper-alloy-surfaces-and-cleaning-regimens-against-the-3gewu0vq0o.pdf

Copper-Alloy Surfaces and Cleaning Regimens against the Spread of SARS-CoV-2 in Dentistry and Orthopedics. From Fomites to Anti-Infective Nanocoatings.

What dentists need to know about COVID-19.

Since its emergence in December 2019, corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has impacted several countries, affecting more than 90 thousand patients and making it a global public threat. The routes of transmission are direct contact, and droplet and possible aerosol transmissions. Due to the unique nature of dentistry, most dental procedures generate significant amounts of droplets and aerosols, posing potential risks of infection transmission. Understanding the significance of aerosol transmission and its implications in dentistry can facilitate the identification and correction of negligence in daily dental practice. In addition to the standard precautions, some special precautions that should be implemented during an outbreak have been raised in this review.

/pdf/possible-aerosol-transmission-of-covid-19-and-special-1583bm09g1.pdf

Xiao hui Fu

Papers

Possible aerosol transmission of COVID-19 and special precautions in dentistry.