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Adequacy of the Dental Teaching Clinics for the control of COVID-19 infections

Abstract:

Introduction: Teaching dental clinics constitute a high risk of COVID-19 infection due to procedures in the mouth, exposure to fluids and simultaneous patient care, which implies an overcrowding of people, risk of contagion and spread of the virus. Objective: Describe the adequacy of teaching clinics for patient care and the reduction of the risk of contagion during the eventual return to classes. Methods: A projective investigation was carried out with a descriptive documentary design. Universe made up of teachers, assistants and students. The sample consisted of 135 subjects, who agreed to participate in the study and met the inclusion criteria. The recently published information related to the subject in English and Spanish was analyzed in different databases and a participatory interview was also carried out to build a matrix of strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats. Results: After analyzing the results of the SWOT, it is recommended to redefine the spaces intended for dental care according to color codes or risk of contagion, allocating yellow for the waiting room, orange for non-aerosol generating spaces, red in spaces with high risk of contagion, green staff break, blue disinfection areas. The reception staff, patients, students and teachers must be provided with appropriate personal protective equipment according to the work area. Strict compliance with the disinfection regulations and ventilation of spaces intended for aerosol-generating treatments is recommended. Conclusion: The existing clinical environments within university spaces must be prepared, adapting them to the new reality to be faced, in order to control and reduce the spread of the virus.