Toothache, infections, abscesses, mouth and oral health problems do not go on vacation, despite the Covid-19 pandemic. But in the coronavirus emergency, going to the dentist is often not recommended. The risk of contagion, in fact, sometimes exceeds the benefit deriving from the treatments, both for the patient and for the operator. For this reason, dentists are currently only treating urgent cases. which can no longer be extended. For this reason, dentists are working, also remotely, to find new rules and guidelines for treatments in complete safety, both for the professional and for the patient.
Among the categories of workers most at risk and in the first places are dentists and dental hygienists. It is no coincidence, given that in addition to the physical proximity between patient and specialist, the dentist uses rotating instruments, such as the drill, which produce aerosols containing tiny droplets of saliva. And it is precisely this aerosol produced during some medical procedures that could carry the new coronavirus, as shown for example by a study in Nature . The information we have is still scarce.
“We don’t know – explained Roberto Waiter, surgeon dentist, responsible for the Agestimationproject of the For: Med: Lab, spin-off of the University of Macerata – how much this diffusion of droplets in the air can realistically affect the infection and for this reason it is good to take maximum precautions “. Currently, therefore, continues the expert, dental offices must only deal with urgent cases that cannot be deferred after telephone contact. “And to manage other cases remotely”, adds Waiter, “for example by prescribing drug therapy, at least in the first place”.
