COVID-19 Aerosol Concentration on Dental Clinics Could Worsen Virus Spread

Several trips and other healthcare check-ups came on hold due to the COVID-19.

One of these is the dental clinic trips since it requires interaction that usually happens near the dentists and the patients.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) guidelines, dental settings should balance the need to provide necessary services while minimizing risk to patients and dental healthcare personnel (DHCP).

CDC adds that this guideline was made because SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 infection among humans, is through to be transmitted among people who are in close contact with one another through respiratory droplets.

A study from Imperial College London researchers demonstrates how SARS-CoV-2 spread within the room of the dentists that seeks to lessen the spread during dental visits.

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Factors that affect the spreading of SARS-CoV-2

COVID-19 Aerosol Concentration on Dental Clinics Depends on the Room's Orientation

(Photo : Luis Alvarenga)
Dentist Fatima Camara, treats a client in her dental office amidst the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on July 1, 2020 in Niteroi, Brazil. The city of Niteroi authorized the reopening of shopping malls and small and medium-sized street business. The establishments will be able to reopen following distance rules such as reduced opening hours, restricting the flow of people and maintaining hygiene standards.

In collaboration with King's College London, Imperial College London's release states that the researchers utilized dental clinical rooms from a hospital in London to find out how aerosols are produced during dental procedures like decay removal, adjusting prostheses, and applying and polishing fillings.

Eureka Alert adds that one factor that spread the virus aerosol concentration and spread within the room, is reliant on the presence of ventilation systems, the room's size and geometry, and the positioning of the patient.

King's College London furthers that the spread of the virus is also influenced by the initial direction and speed of the aerosol itself, which may be exaggerated by the kind of cutting device, and the quantity and type of cooling water utilized.

Type of Drill

Imperial College London also mentions another impactful discovery of their research is that the usage of air dental drill types - the most common type of dental drill - forms dense clouds of aerosol droplets that spread as fast as 12 meters per second.

King's College London adds that the aerosol can rapidly contaminate or infect an entire treatment room, emphasizing that 1 milliliter of saliva from COVID-19 positive patients contains about 120 million copies of the virus, all of them having the capacity to infect.

In the mission to lessen the aerosol concentration, the researchers note in Eureka Alert that they put a different type of drill called high torque electric micromotor into the analysis, observing the device with and without water and air streams.

Results and Implication

Imperial College London researchers point out that using the high torque electric micromotor in low speeds less than 100,000 rpm without air steams produced 60 times lesser droplets than air turbine drill types. The researcher continues that by understanding how to reduce the amount of aerosol generated, they will be able to help dentists to practice more and treat their patients in accordance with what their oral health requires.

In a statement, co-author of the study and professor from the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral, and Craniofacial Sciences of King's College London, professor Owen Addison points out that their study helped their team and patients safe through choosing drill parameters. He adds that their suggestions can lead to open dentistry to patients once again for treatment, a domain closed by COVID-19.

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