Medidas de Bioseguridad Adoptadas para la Atención Odontológica de Urgencia durante la Pandemia por COVID-19, según los Lineamientos de Orden Nacional en Países Latinoamericanos

Abstract

In Wuhan China in December 2019, a new member of the coronavirus family alerted world health authorities. This virus was called SARS-Cov2 and in a few months it was catalogued as a pandemic, since it was distributed in several continents of the world. America has been strongly hit by this new virus, and as of November of this year, the United States is the country with the most infections, followed by India and Brazil. All health care personnel are at high risk of infection with SARS-CoV2, especially dentists, since their work area is the oral cavity, the main source of highly contagious goticules. For this reason, this work aims to identify the biosecurity measures adopted for emergency dental care during the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin American countries, by reviewing the protocols established and published by the national governments of the countries in question. It was concluded virtual channels have been implemented for the assignment of appointments, dental care has been limited to emergencies, the use of protective barriers for health personnel has increased, and cleaning and disinfection protocols must be rough and effective to ensure the safety of the dental office and prevent it from being a space for cross-contamination. In addition, personal protection measures such as hand hygiene and the use of mouth mask have been implemented on a mandatory basis throughout the world population. Undoubtedly, the COVID-19 marked a new normality and we still do not know how long it will last.