La práctica odontológica en el marco de la pandemia causada por el COVID 19

COVID-19 was first described in Wuhan, China in December 2019, since then it has spread to all continents and was declared a pandemic by WHO. It is transmitted from person to person or by direct contact with contaminated surfaces. Its symptoms are nonspecific and can trigger severe pneumonia and even death. As it is a recently identified event, there is no specific treatment and its management focuses on symptom control. The dental profession is shown to be one of the most affected by this disease, due to close contact with patients and continuous exposure to aerosols with a high microbial load, produced by working instruments. So far there are no standardized protocols for clinical practice in the context of this pandemic and the information that circulates through social networks and the media is constantly changing and erroneous most of the time. The main objective of this work is to provide the dental professional with relevant information on COVID-19, based on the available evidence, to help mitigate and prevent the spread of the virus during dental practice.