People should not go to non-urgent dentist appointments, World Health Organization warns 

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People should not go to non-urgent dentist appointments until ‘unknown’ Covid-19 risk is better understood, World Health Organization warns

  • There is no data on how coronavirus could spread from a dentist’s chair  
  • Fears that common procedures could create tiny infected floating particles 
  • Procedures include air/water spray and ultrasonic cleaning and polishing 

By Isabella Nikolic For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Patients shouldn’t go to dentist appointments unless they are urgent until the risk factor from coronavirus is better understood, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned. 

A WHO dental officer, Benoit Varenne, said the risk posed by procedures used by dentists is too poorly understood for people to start going to non-urgent appointments.

Procedures including air and water sprays, ultrasonic cleaning and polishing could all send coronaviruses airborne out of a patient’s mouth, he said.  

Mr Varienne said: ‘WHO guidance recommends in case of community transmission to give priority to urgent or emergency oral cases, to avoid or minimise procedures that may generate aerosol, prioritise a set of clinical interventions that are performed using an instrument and of course to delay routine non-essential oral health care.’

There is currently no data on how easily coronavirus could spread in a dentist’s chair and many surgeries were closed to all but the most urgent appointments in lockdown in the UK.

The WHO said more research is needed to understand the risk, and that patients and dentists should avoid non-urgent appointments until this is completed. 

Patients shouldn’t go to dentist appointments unless they are urgent until the risk factor from coronavirus is better understood, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced 

Mr Varenne added: ‘The likelihood of COVID-19 being transmitted through aerosol, micro-particles or airborne particles … today I think is unknown, it’s open to question at least. This means that more research is needed.’

The WHO last month released general guidelines on the transmission of the coronavirus which acknowledged some reports of airborne transmission, but stopped short of confirming that the virus spreads through the air.

Dental facilities must have adequate ventilation to reduce the risk of the virus spreading in closed settings, it said on Tuesday.

‘We think that the most pressing issue is related to the availability of essential personal protective equipment, PPE, for all health care personnel undertaking or assisting in the clinical procedures,’ Mr Varenne said.

Dentists in Britain have been allowed to offer non-urgent appointments since June 8 under Government lockdown rules.

They had been permitted to do urgent work throughout lockdown.

But many surgeries face a dramatic change to normality as they welcome patients back.

Sara Hurley, the Chief Dentistry Officer (CDO) for England said in May that dentists need to offer online consultations and surgeries may have to be modified depending on their layout. 

Waiting rooms may need to be partitioned with perspex glass, magazines and children’s toys could be removed, and chairs will need to be set in line with the two-metre rule.   

The British Dental Association (BDA) welcome reopening plans at the time but warned that expectations need to be managed adding that infection control and social distancing could reduce capacity by up to two thirds.

The dental trade union added that the availability of PPE may limit the speed that dental care is restored, with different practices likely to vary.

BDA chair Mick Armstrong said: ‘A return of high street dentistry we will be welcome news to millions of patients left with few options during lockdown, but key questions remain.

‘It is right to allow practices to decide themselves when they are ready to open.

‘Dentists will be keen to start providing care as soon as safely possible, but we will need everyone to be patient as practices get up and running.’   

NHS must not stop normal care when a second wave of Covid-19 hits – or tens of thousands of patients may die, leading medics warn 

Tens of thousands of patients may die if the NHS shuts down normal care during a second coronavirus wave, leading medics warned today.

Health service bosses are being urged not to leave non-virus patients ‘stranded and in pain’ once again after cancelling millions of appointments during the first epidemic.

In early March the NHS told hospitals to scrap as many operations as possible and turf out patients on their wards to make way for an influx of Covid-19 patients. 

The move was successful and hospitals were not overwhelmed by the effects of the virus. But cancer charities fear tens of thousands more patients will die in the next year because they had their tumours diagnosed too late or missed completely.

Official figures show that 12,000 more people than average died in England during lockdown from illnesses unrelated to Covid, including heart attacks and strokes.  

Professor Neil Mortensen, president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said the NHS ‘must never again be a Covid-only service’.

He told the Guardian: ‘There is a duty to the thousands of patients waiting in need and in pain to make sure they can be treated.’

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of council at the British Medical Association (BMA), warned patients who need urgent care should never be left ‘stranded’ again.

It comes amid reports that NHS England has scrapped its £400million-a-month deal with private hospitals to keep their beds in reserve in case of a virus resurgence.

The move will fuel fears that the health service is under-prepared for a second epidemic, which many experts have expressed concern about in recent months.

Dr Nagpaul told the newspaper: ‘We cannot have a situation in which patients are unable to access diagnostic tests, clinic appointments and treatment which they urgently need and are simply left stranded.

‘If someone needs care – for example for cancer, heart trouble, a breathing condition or a neurological problem – they must get it when they need it.