Environmental Disinfection of a Dental Clinic during the Covid‐19 Pandemic: A Narrative Insight
Antônio Scarano, Francesco Inchingolo, Felice Lorusso
Abstract
Background . The control of biological hazard risk in health care and dental clinic environments represents a critical point in relation to the Covid‐19 infection outbreak and international public health emergency. The purpose of the present review was to evaluate the scientific literature on the no‐touch disinfection procedures in dental clinics aiming to limit transmission via airborne particles or fomites using no‐touch procedures for environmental decontamination of dental clinics. Methods . An electronic database literature search was performed to retrieve research papers about Covid‐19 and no‐touch disinfection topics including full‐length articles, editorials, commentaries, and outbreak studies. A total of 86 papers were retrieved by the electronic research. Results . No clinical article about the decontamination of a dental clinic during the Covid‐19 pandemic was detected. About the topic of hospital decontamination, we found different no‐touch disinfection procedures used in hospital against highly resistant organisms, but no data were found in the search for such procedures with respect to SARS‐CoV‐2: (1) aerosolized hydrogen peroxide, (2) H 2 O 2 vapor, (3) ultraviolet C light, (4) pulsed xenon, and (5) gaseous ozone. One paper was retrieved concerning SARS‐CoV‐2; 32 documents focused on SARS and MERS. The cleaning and disinfection protocol of health care and dental clinic environment surfaces are essential elements of infection prevention programs, especially during the SARS‐CoV‐2 pandemic. Conclusion . The decontamination technique that best suits the needs of the dental clinic is peroxide and hypochlorous which can be sprayed via a device at high turbine speed with the ability of producing small aerosol particles, recommendable also for their low cost.