Version 1
: Received: 16 January 2022 / Approved: 21 January 2022 / Online: 21 January 2022 (03:01:21 CET)
Version 2
: Received: 7 April 2022 / Approved: 8 April 2022 / Online: 8 April 2022 (03:58:00 CEST)
Thurzo, A.; Urbanová, W.; Waczulíková, I.; Kurilová, V.; Mriňáková, B.; Kosnáčová, H.; Gális, B.; Varga, I.; Matajs, M.; Novák, B. Dental Care and Education Facing Highly Transmissible SARS-CoV-2 Variants: Prospective Biosafety Setting: Prospective, Single-Arm, Single-Center Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022, 19, 7693. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19137693.
Thurzo, A.; Urbanová, W.; Waczulíková, I.; Kurilová, V.; Mriňáková, B.; Kosnáčová, H.; Gális, B.; Varga, I.; Matajs, M.; Novák, B. Dental Care and Education Facing Highly Transmissible SARS-CoV-2 Variants: Prospective Biosafety Setting: Prospective, Single-Arm, Single-Center Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022, 19, 7693. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19137693.
Thurzo, A.; Urbanová, W.; Waczulíková, I.; Kurilová, V.; Mriňáková, B.; Kosnáčová, H.; Gális, B.; Varga, I.; Matajs, M.; Novák, B. Dental Care and Education Facing Highly Transmissible SARS-CoV-2 Variants: Prospective Biosafety Setting: Prospective, Single-Arm, Single-Center Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022, 19, 7693. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19137693.
Thurzo, A.; Urbanová, W.; Waczulíková, I.; Kurilová, V.; Mriňáková, B.; Kosnáčová, H.; Gális, B.; Varga, I.; Matajs, M.; Novák, B. Dental Care and Education Facing Highly Transmissible SARS-CoV-2 Variants: Prospective Biosafety Setting: Prospective, Single-Arm, Single-Center Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022, 19, 7693. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19137693.
Abstract
With arrival of highly transmissible Omicron variants in global pandemic, dentistry is facing another challenge to preserve biosafety of dental care. With a mission to protect both patients and healthcare workers, adaptability to the changing epidemiologic situation is required from dental professionals. This work presents a prospective sustainable biosafety setting for routine orthodontic care. The protocol is composed from combination of available technologiesfocused on the air-borne part of a virus pathway. Introduced biosafety protocol has been clinically evaluatedafter 18 months of application in the real clinical environment. The protocol has three fundamental pillars: (1) UVC air disinfection; (2) air saturation with certified virucidal oils through nebulizing diffusers; (3) complementary solutions. As a method of evaluation pseudonymous on-line smart form was used. Protocol operates with premise that everybody as a hypothetical asymptomatic carrier. Results from 115 patient feedbacks imply that with this protocol in place, there was no observed or reported translation of virus from patient to another patient or from patient to doctor or nurse and vice versa, albeit nine patients have retrospectively admitted visiting the clinic as probably infectious. Despite promising results, a larger clinical sample and exposition to currentmutated strains is necessary for reliable conclusions about protocol virucidal efficiency.
Medicine and Pharmacology, Dentistry and Oral Surgery
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Commenter: Andrej Thurzo
Commenter's Conflict of Interests: Author