The Impact of COVID-19 on the Oral Health of Patients with Special Needs

In March 2020, WHO declared a global public health emergency due to the spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). As one of the societal responses to the emergency, medical and dental elective care was suspended, disproportionally affecting persons with special needs. As many of the special needs population live in a communal environment, they were at higher risk of being infected with and dying from COVID-19. Consequently, their access to medical and dental services was limited to emergency care. A method of reaching these populations evolved by the expansion of telehealth, including dentistry, to provide diagnosis, management, prevention, and provision of psychosocial support for patients. When dental care was resumed, many changes were adopted, including improved air filtration using UV light and EPA filters, enhanced PPE, and surface disinfection. To reduce aerosol, high speed suction associated with extra-oral suction devices were used, as well as using more hand scaling, and minimally invasive dentistry, including ART and SDF.
Source: Dental Clinics of North America - Category: Dentistry Authors: Source Type: research