Dental care during COVID-19 pandemic : survey of experts' opinion.

OBJECTIVES: The current COVID-19 outbreak in conjunction with the need to provide safe dental treatments, and the limited knowledge on the efficacy of protective measures has posed dentists into a challenging situation. Therefore, the present article aimed at collecting experiences and recommendations of front-line clinical experts on critical aspects of dental treatment provision during pandemic. MATERIAL & METHODS: , 2020. RESULTS: A total of 27 experts from different European countries completed the survey. The transmission risk of SARS-CoV-2 in dental settings for aerosol generating procedures was considered high by all experts except two. For aerosol-free and aerosol generating procedures, more than 80% of the experts recommended face protection and caps for every single treatment. For aerosol-generating procedures, additional measures (FFP2/FFP3 masks and gowns) were suggested by the vast majority of the experts. To reduce transmission risk, all experts recommended limiting aerosol-generating procedures and reducing the number of patients in waiting areas as well as hand hygiene for the patients. CONCLUSION: The limitation of aerosol-generating procedures along with the usage of adequate personal protection equipment was considered to be crucial to protect dental health care providers and patients, thus reducing the transmission risk of COVID-19