COVID-19: Is it possible to define the aerosol clearance time after dental health care?

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes that aerosol-generating procedures represent an increased hazard of transmitting the new coronavirus to healthcare professionals. In dentistry, the frequent use of aerosol-generating devices represent a potential risk to occupational health. As a result, several publications have recommended the postponement of elective dentistry procedures during the outbreak of COVID-19 in order to reduce the chance of contamination. Because of this, we have seen an effort by the academic community to orient dental surgeons on the new biosafety guidelines during care, however, a gap remains to be filled about the care for handling the aerosol produced. Considering that the time for the purification of aerosols, it impacts the risk of cross-infection and the organization of dental appointments, we intend to analyze some aspects that directly interfere in the definition of the time necessary for the purification of the aerosols produced.