WHO: “Only urgent treatments” – According to the WHO, therefore, in this phase in which the pandemic cannot be considered over, only urgent treatments should be done (including those for acute oral infections, swelling, systemic infections, bleeding, severe pain that cannot be treated with drugs, dental trauma) to prevent patients from going to the emergency room. Therefore, if you have to go to the dentist’s office, a remote or telephone screening must be done before the appointment, or upon arrival at the facility.
Home visits for urgent cases – If urgent treatment is required for a patient who has, or is suspected to have, Covid-19, it should be sent to specialized dental care services with the appropriate measures to keep Covid-19 cases separate from others. One can think of home visits for urgent cases with a dedicated dental group, able to apply prevention and control measures.
The required measures – As for the staff who conducts triage in the studies, the WHO suggests keeping “one meter away” and that a glass or plastic divider be installed between the staff and the patient. In addition, in situations where community transmission occurs, staff should wear a mask during the shift and, in the event that individual safety devices are missing, replace them with visors. Appointments must be made in such a way as to reduce the number of people in the waiting rooms and ensure that a distance of one meter is kept.
The dentists’ reply – Contrary to this document is the National Association of Italian Dentists (Andi), according to which the studies are already safe with the protocol of the Scientific Technical Committee and Ministry of Health, adopted by all Italian dentists. The Andi recalls, in fact, how the document drawn up in May by the Technical Scientific Committee and validated by the Ministry of Health, with the necessary indications for the prevention of biological risk from coronavirus in Phase 2, was immediately received by all Italian dentists.
“Patients in safety” – What the dentists have received are “effective indications that allow the carrying out of every dental therapeutic maneuver in absolute safety for the patient, the medical staff and the auxiliary staff of the dental practice”, as stated by the president Andi, Carlo Ghirlanda. “We realize that the WHO appeal concerns in particular those countries where the precautionary and preventive measures in place in Italy since the beginning of the pandemic cannot be guaranteed. But the Italian situation is clear”, he added. . “The constant use of procedures and protective devices represents a certain safety measure, as proven by these months of ordinary activity of the Italian dental practices in Phase 2 of the pandemic”, concluded Ghirlanda.
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