SARS-CoV-2 exposure risk cut due to office changes

2020 11 09 21 59 0645 3d Closeup Coronavirus 400

Multiple changes were made at dental care facilities to curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2, and these strategies cut transmission risk, according to a presentation given on July 21 at the virtual International Association for Dental Research (IADR) General Session.

About 40% of practices reported closing wait areas and practices, and most other clinicians reported making changes to patient wait and staff-only areas to reduce exposure to the novel coronavirus and allow for social distancing. Jeffrey Fellows, PhD, a health economist at Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, presented a poster with the findings.

Other than adding high-volume evacuators and high-efficiency particulate air filters, few changes were made to operatories. Additionally, staff spent a median extra 40 minutes daily disinfecting practices.

The data were collected from dentists, dental hygienists, and dental therapists who were enrolled in the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network and participated in the COVID-19 Research (CORE) Registry study.

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