Alexandria, Va., USA – Jeffrey Fellows, Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, Portland, Ore., USA, presented the poster “Controlling SARS-CoV-2 Transmission: Facility Changes and Confidence Among National-Dental-PBRN Practices” at the virtual 99th General Session & Exhibition of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR), held in conjunction with the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Dental Research (AADR) and the 45th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research (CADR), on July 21-24, 2021.
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic prompted U.S. dental practitioners to reduce potential risks of virus transmission at dental facilities. U.S. dentists, dental hygienists and dental therapists who were currently enrolled in the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network were invited to enroll in the COVID-19 Research (CORE) Registry study which seeks to identify and evaluate approaches used to mitigate SARS-CoV-2, the costs of these approaches and comfort levels with risk mitigation.
Most practitioners reported changes to patient wait and staff-only areas to reduce exposed surfaces and enhance social distancing and 40% closed wait areas. Changes in patient care areas were less common, but HVEs and HEPA filtration were most common change to operatories and staff spent a median extra 40 minutes per day disinfecting dental office space.
Preliminary data show there have been multiple changes to dental care facilities to mitigate SARS-CoV-2 transmission risks and that these changes can reduce the risk of virus transmission.
View this poster presentation in the IADR General Session Virtual Experience Platform.
International Association for Dental Research
The International Association for Dental Research (IADR) is a nonprofit organization with over 10,000 individual members worldwide, with a mission to drive dental, oral and craniofacial research for health and well-being worldwide. To learn more, visit www.iadr.org.