Dental attention during the COVID-19 pandemic: a literature review

Introduction: Dental care, due to the production of aerosols, brings risks of cross contamination, and the adoption of preventive strategies is essential. In times of the COVID-19 pandemic, such care was reviewed and extended. Objective: To analyze the recommendations for dental care during a COVID-19 pandemic. Method: Integrative review through access to electronic databases PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Web of Science, SciELO, LILACS, MEDLINE in Virtual Health Library (VHL) and gray literature, through Google Scholar. The analysis of the retrieved references was carried out by two reviewers, to identify qualified studies based on the titles and abstracts. Then, they were written as full-text versions of the articles for reading and extracting data. Results: Of the 359 studies extracted from the procedures of search, 35 articles were included in this review. It was observed the adoption of preventive measures prior, concomitant and subsequent to dental care, with greater emphasis on the first two. Among the most basic measures, the following can be mentioned: patient screening; measurement of body temperature; urgent and emergency care only; the use of pre-procedure mouthwash; the use of Personal Protective Equipment, including the N95 or FPP2/3 respirator; avoiding the production of aerosol; care in hand hygiene; disinfecting surfaces, among others. Conclusions: There was a consensus regarding measures to prevent contamination by COVID-19 in the studies included in this review and between these and the results generated by institutions. Knowledge of these measures, as well as their practical application, is of great value to dentists.