Personal protective measures for the dental professionals
At present, there is no specific guideline for the protection of dental professionals from 2019-nCoV infection in the dental clinics and hospitals. Although no dental professional has been reported to acquire 2019-nCoV infection to the date the paper was drafted, the last experience with the SARS coronavirus has shown vast numbers of acquired infection of medical professionals in hospital settings57. Since airborne droplet transmission of infection is considered as the main route of spread, particularly in dental clinics and hospitals, barrier-protection equipment, including protective eyewear, masks, gloves, caps, face shields, and protective outwear, is strongly recommended for all healthcare givers in the clinic/hospital settings during the epidemic period of 2019-nCoV.
Based on the possibility of the spread of 2019-nCoV infection, three-level protective measures of the dental professionals are recommended for specific situations. (1) Primary protection (standard protection for staff in clinical settings). Wearing disposable working cap, disposable surgical mask, and working clothes (white coat), using protective goggles or face shield, and disposable latex gloves or nitrile gloves if necessary. (2) Secondary protection (advanced protection for dental professionals). Wearing disposable doctor cap, disposable surgical mask, protective goggles, face shield, and working clothes (white coat) with disposable isolation clothing or surgical clothes outside, and disposable latex gloves. (3) Tertiary protection (strengthened protection when contact patient with suspected or confirmed 2019-nCoV infection). Although a patient with 2019-nCoV infection is not expected to be treated in the dental clinic, in the unlikely event that this does occur, and the dental professional cannot avoid close contact, special protective outwear is needed. If protective outwear is not available, working clothes (white coat) with extra disposable protective clothing outside should be worn. In addition, disposable doctor cap, protective goggles, face shield, disposable surgical mask, disposable latex gloves, and impermeable shoe cover should be worn.