Implications of Corona virus on dental practice and educations
Authors: Mahendra Kumar Jindal  
Published: May 2022

New variant of the corona virus which is highly contagious version is called Novel Corona Virus 2019 and disease is called Covid 2019. Before dental procedure start all dental staff and patient above 18 years should be vaccinated

for Covid 19 virus. Remove all the clutter and thing from practice that cannot be disinfected easily, like magazines, reading materials,toys in play area and other objects.

 

Print and place signage in dental office for instructing patients on standard recommendations for respiratory hygiene/cough etiquette and social distancing .Request patients to come alone and accompanied only if the patient is child/compromised/elderly patientswho cannot come alone.

Instruct patients to brush their teeth just before they arrive for their appointments. Instruct patients to update their ArogyaSetu App at home prior to arrival for appointment. Appointments to be scheduled and spaced to avoid crowding the waiting area. All the staff should wear good quality mask, gloves and maintain a distance of at least two meters. Ensure hand sanitization and thermal scanning of all the staff and patients. Avoid all unnecessary visitors including medical representatives . Keepclinic well ventilated at all times . Ensure most frequent surface cleaning of waiting areas with sodium hypochlorite solution specially surfaces which are more often touched such as reception table top, door handles etc.

  Hand hygiene training should be part of staff induction. Apply the liquid soap to wet hands to reduce the risk of irritational and perform hand washing under running water. Ordinarily, the hand wash rubbing action should be for about 20 seconds.

Effective drying of hands after washing is important because wet surfaces transfer microorganisms more easily than when they are dry, and inadequately dried hands are prone to skin damage. Always use clean single use towels. Reduce aerosol production by using rubber dam for all procedures. Use in practice 4 handed dentistry with high vacuum suction.

 

Before covid-19 crisis we have underestimated the role of the e-oral health infrastructure, education and services, including teledentistry .Elecronic platforms, video conferencing network and social media are being used for theretical purposes. Virtual patient based learning may improve students skills in decision making and diagnosis e.g. herpes simplex infection, recurrent aphthous  stomatitis.  Virtual  models and histopathology slides using whole slide image  for oral pathology education may improve student knowledge .

 

Preclinical and clinical learning activities, in online mode is extremely difficult. Preclinical and clinical learning students may be called offline in small groups as per local authority and national pandemic guideline.

 

 Due to covid-19 social distancing and isolation and uncertainties about the outcome of the pandemic can significantly affect students and faculty members mental health. Student delayed in completing graduation with incomplete practical clinical knowledge especially final year BDS and MDS students. This may cause anxiety, poor sleep and short sleep durations. Predisposing people to depression and post traumatic stress disorders. The monitoring of the staff members and student by college authority is important. Even in a period of uncertainty holding regular meeting can help in decreasing anxiety. Sudden inception of e-learning for students and staff can increase anxiety, the dental school administration  must plan strategies to keep staff and students motivated.