Given that oral health-care providers work in close contact with their patients and are exposed to saliva, blood and other body fluids, it is particularly important that procedures are in place and are strictly adhered to in order to protect both themselves and their patients from infection with COVID-19 during the current pandemic and beyond.
A set of three short animated videos, released today, describe WHO-recommended procedures for screening, triaging and reception of people seeking oral health care; measures that should be in place to protect patients and personnel during treatment; and cleaning, disinfection and sterilization procedures to be applied to surfaces, equipment and instruments in oral health-care facilities.
The videos, based on guidance published by WHO in 2020, are primarily intended for use in trainings for oral health teams on infection prevention and control. More generally, target audiences are public health authorities, in particular those responsible for oral health, and oral health-care personnel undertaking or assisting in the procedures described, working in both the public and private sectors. People considering making an appointment for oral health and dental care may also find the material useful as a reference for the practices that they should expect to see in dental health-care facilities during the pandemic and beyond. The videos released today are in English. Versions in Arabic, Chinese, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish are expected to be released in the first quarter of 2021.