Реферат
Background: To investigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the patients' attendance/distribution patterns within different departments and the perception of the dental team providing dental services during the COVID-19 outbreak in a private dental clinic. Moreover, the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on dental professionals next to the role of personal protective equipment in the prevention of infection in the corresponding teams was simultaneously investigated. Methods: A clinic located in the northern part of Tehran was selected. Forty-four dentists with 48 staff members were involved in treatment teams. Preventive strategies, i.e., personnel/operator/patient management comprising full Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), high-volume evacuation suctions, primary screening questions, pulse oximetry, the patient's body temperature measurement as well as administrative controls, e.g. disinfection of surfaces and using stairs instead of lifts, were implemented to manage the prevalence of disease and analyze the impact of COVID-19 on the distribution/attendance patterns of patients. Results: During 6 months, a 26% reduction in the number of patients was observed after the pandemic;however, men's and women's distributions were not affected. The department of orthodontics reported a 6% increase in new cases whereas the department of pediatric dentistry revealed the least changes in the number of patients. In the departments of operative dentistry, prosthodontics, oral/maxillofacial surgery, and periodontics, the number of patients was reduced by 10-30%. In addition, three dentists and four staff members were affected by COVID-19 during the mentioned period. Conclusion: It seems that the potential for COVID-19 transmission in dental clinics is relatively low. Copyright 2023, Journal of Iranian Medical Council. All rights reserved.
Реферат
BACKGROUND AND AIM: The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) has become a public health emergency of worldwide concern. In addition to the serious impacts of this disease, it has caused numerous problems for dental treatments. Here, the findings on the first phase of the cohort study on reopening the School of Dentistry, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran and its subordinate clinics during the COVID-19 pandemic were reported. METHODS: Data were collected via a 100-item self-administered online questionnaire from June 2 to June 20, 2020. A total of 1,110 members from the academics, students, and personnel of the school participated in the study. The questionnaire included demographic data, socio-personal patterns, systemic conditions, COVID-19 infection information, and personal protective equipment (PPE). RESULTS: Since the outbreak of the pandemic, 87.4% of the professors, 49.0% of the students, and 29.0% of the personnel of the school used personal vehicles other than public transportation. In addition, over 50.0% of the students and about 70.0% of the other two groups had not attended any gatherings. Moreover, 83.0% of the academics, 93.0% of the students, and 84.0% of the personnel had no systemic conditions. Furthermore, about 16.0% of the professors, 14.0% of the students, and 22.0% of the personnel had tested for the COVID-19 infection, of whom only about 1.0% reported positive results. Fatigue, dry coughs, and shortness of breath were the most common symptoms reported by the respondents. CONCLUSION: Dental offices are high-risk environments for the transmission of air-borne diseases. Considering the low percentage of the participants with positive test, it may be concluded that the safety protocols could effectively limit the spread of the COVID-19 infection.