AUTHOR=Dabiri Darya , Conti Samuel Richard , Sadoughi Pour Niloufar , Chong Andrew , Dadjoo Shaahin , Dabiri Donya , Wiese Carol , Badal Joyce , Hoogland Margaret Arleen , Conti Heather Raquel , Taylor Travis Roger , Choueiri George , Amili Omid 

TITLE=A Multi-Disciplinary Review on the Aerobiology of COVID-19 in Dental Settings

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Dental Medicine

VOLUME=Volume 2 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/dental-medicine/articles/10.3389/fdmed.2021.726395

DOI=10.3389/fdmed.2021.726395

ISSN=2673-4915

ABSTRACT=The COVID-19 pandemic pushed dental health officials around the world to reassess and adjust their existing health service practices. As controlled COVID-19 transmission studies remain challenging, this review focuses on particles which can carry the virus and relevant approaches to mitigate the risk of pathogen transmission in dental offices. An overview of particles generated in clinical settings and how size influences their distribution, concentration, and generation routes is given. A wide array of pertinent particle characterization and counting methods are reviewed, along with their working range, reliability, and limitations. This is followed by a focus on the effectiveness of personal protective equipment (PPE) and face-shields in protecting patients and dentists from aerosols. Direct studies on SARS-CoV-2 are still limited, but the literature supports wearing masks as an important and effective non-pharmaceutical preventive measure that could reduce the risk of contracting a respiratory infection by up to 20% (Barasheed et al. 2016). In addition to covering PPE used by most dental care professionals, this review describes other ways dental offices can protect patients and dental office personnel by modifying the existing room design, dental equipment, heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. More affordable modifications include positioning a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) unit within proximity of the patient’s chair or using ultraviolet germicidal irradiation in conjunction to ventilation. Additionally, portable fans could be used to direct airflow in one direction through the staff working areas and then through patient treatment areas, which could decrease the number of airborne particles in dental offices. This review concludes that there needs to be greater awareness amongst dental practitioners of the relationship between particle dynamics and clinical dentistry and additional research is needed to fill the broad gaps of knowledge in this field.