Alternative Methods of Sterilization in Dental Practices Against COVID-19

Enzo Cumbo, Giuseppe Gallina, Pietro Messina and Giuseppe Alessandro Scardina
Additional contact information
Enzo Cumbo: Department of Surgical Oncological and Stomatological Disciplines, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Giuseppe Gallina: Department of Surgical Oncological and Stomatological Disciplines, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Pietro Messina: Department of Surgical Oncological and Stomatological Disciplines, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Giuseppe Alessandro Scardina: Department of Surgical Oncological and Stomatological Disciplines, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 16, 1-14

Abstract: SARS-CoV-2, and several other microorganisms, may be present in nasopharyngeal and salivary secretions in patients treated in dental practices, so an appropriate clinical behavior is required in order to avoid the dangerous spread of infections. COVID-19 could also be spread when patients touches a contaminated surface with infected droplets and then touch their nose, mouth, or eyes. It is time to consider a dental practice quite similar to a hospital surgery room, where particular attention should be addressed to problems related to the spreading of infections due to air and surface contamination. The effectiveness of conventional cleaning and disinfection procedures may be limited by several factors; first of all, human operator dependence seems to be the weak aspect of all procedures. The improvement of these conventional methods requires the modification of human behavior, which is difficult to achieve and sustain. As alternative sterilization methods, there are some that do not depend on the operator, because they are based on devices that perform the entire procedure on their own, with minimal human intervention. In conclusion, continued efforts to improve the traditional manual disinfection of surfaces are needed, so dentists should consider combining the use of proper disinfectants and no-touch decontamination technologies to improve sterilization procedures.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; bioaerosols; sterilization; dentistry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/16/5736/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/16/5736/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:16:p:5736-:d:396306

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().