A Survey on Perceived COVID-19 Risk in Dentistry and the Possible Use of Rapid Tests.

AIM: The present study was conducted to assess the perceived risk of COVID-19 transmission in dental professionals (DPs), that include dentists and dental auxiliary staffs, and whether rapid tests should be a recommended tool to constrain the transmission of the COVID-19, and who should be bearing their cost (governments, dentists, or patients) through an online survey. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A sample size of n = 700 was recruited in the study. The study included DPs from all over the world. A randomized selection of samples was done through dental groups present on social networks. An online survey was conducted in April 2020, using the Google Form software to provide questions and collect and elaborate answers. Data were analyzed using the statistical software STATA and presented in terms of percentages. RESULTS: About 78% of the study participants perceived a very high risk of COVID-19 contamination in dental settings. Nearly 80% of the study participants were willing to be subjected to rapid tests and the same could be performed on patients visiting their dental clinics, which could prevent the spread of the disease. About 55% of the participants had reported that additional costs for the rapid tests should be borne by the governments. CONCLUSION: The results of the present survey report that DPs do not feel safe and perceive a high risk of COVID-19 contagion and prevention of the disease could be done by performing rapid tests on dentists, dental staff, and patients visiting the dental clinics irrespective of age and gender of the participants. SIGNIFICANCE: Since all the dentists and allied staff have perceived increased risk for COVID-19 transmission, it is important that preventive measures are implemented through rapid test kits at the earliest.

Fine Aerosols and Perceived Risk of COVID-19 among Italian Dental Practitioners: An Experimental Survey.

AIM: The aim of the present study was to take a survey on Italian practitioners concerning the perceived risks of aerosol contamination in COVID-19 times and their attitude toward modifications of treatment protocols to reduce this risk. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Power analysis calculated a minimum sample size of 150 participants at 99% confidence level with a 5% margin of error. To homogenize responses elicited by different preventive measures by various national governments, only Italian dentists were included in the survey: overall 500 responses were collected. RESULTS: Of the 500 analyzed respondents, there were 266 females and 234 males; 379 practitioners were allocated in the more experienced groups, and the remaining 121 in the less experienced group based on less or more than 5 years of practice. The 70% of the dentists consider the dental practice more dangerous for the diffusion of COVID-19 than other social activities. The 5% consider dental practice more dangerous only for the patients. Aerosol contamination was perceived as a risk from the most dentist (70%), but there was agreement on the most dangerous way of cross infection in dental settings. Most of the dentists (55%) believed implementations in their protocols were needed to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infections. No significant differences were found within the groups: both women and men, as well as practitioners with different experience levels (younger or older than 35 years) perceived very similarly the problems related to COVID-19 in dentistry (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The survey demonstrated that COVID-19 had a great impact on dental practitioners; it increased not only fear of aerosol contamination during dental treatments but also influenced the fear of close contacts. SIGNIFICANCE: Airborne and waterborne infections are related with dental treatments and considered the preferred ways of diffusion for COVID-19. The risk of aerosol-related infections could interfere with the clinical practice of the dentist, during the COVID-19 pandemic; the limitations that provided changes to everyday behavior could affect the perception of the safety of the operators, staff, and patient and this could also affect economically the dental office.