Orthotown July/August 2020 - 66

Dr. Sophia G. Saeed
earned her DMD from
Harvard School of
Dental Medicine and
completed residency
at the University of
California, San Francisco
(UCSF). Saeed then
joined UCSF from 2008 to 2018 and held
varied roles, including director of the general
practice residency. In 2018, she moved to Las
Vegas, where she served as chair of the clinical
sciences department at the University of
Nevada, Las Vegas School of Dental Medicine.
Saeed joined UTHealth School of Dentistry this
year as the associate dean for patient care.
Orthotown editorial
advisory board member
Dr. Edmund Khoo, BDSc
(hons), ABO, FICD,
teaches orthodontics
and dentofacial
orthopedics full time at
his alma mater, New York
University. Khoo is certified with the American
Board of Orthodontics and has published in
several journals and been invited to chair
numerous scientific sessions. His awards and
achievements include the American Association
of Orthodontists Foundation T.M. Graber
Teaching Fellowship Award; the Academy of
Distinguished Educators Faculty Award; and the
Faculty Council Teaching Recognition Award.
Khoo is the current chair for the American
Dental Education Association Section on
orthodontics and is a founding member of
the Consortium for Translational Orthodontic
Research.

Short course description
This course provides a brief summary and reiterates the importance of personal protective
equipment during the COVID-19 response. In particular, it refers to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention COVID-19 guidelines for dental settings.

Course objectives
After completing this course, readers
should be able to:
1. Describe the differences between
universal, standard and
transmission-based precautions.
2. Explain the rationale behind
reducing aerosol production
in the orthodontic practice.
3. Discuss importance of keeping
up to date on guidelines for
performing dentistry during
the COVID-19 response.
4. Identify when to utilize N95
respirators and surgical masks
with full-face shields.
5. Explain how PPE should be used via
gloves, gowns and eye protection.

Introduction
The pandemic of the novel coronavirus,
which causes COVID-19, has thrust us into
uncharted territory. Although research on the
virus is still emerging, the rate of community
transmission in the United States confirms
that it's highly infectious in nature.
As health care providers, we are responsible for protecting our patients, employees
and selves. The Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) has developed interim
guidance, based on emerging evidence,
for infection prevention and control in
orthodontic settings during this pandemic,
and has updated its guidance as more has
been learned about the virus.

Before this pandemic, two key components of standard precautions are:
* The assumption that every
patient is infectious.
* The use of personal protective
equipment (PPE).
As one way to break the chain of infection, the purpose behind PPE is to create a
physical barrier between a patient's bodily
fluids and potential routes of entry in the
clinician and auxiliary staff, including the
skin and mucous membranes.
In orthodontic practices, such infectious
material can be easily generated in the form of
aerosol, spray or splatter. Transmission-based
precautions are more advanced than standard
precautions and provide health care workers
added protection in the face of virulent or
emerging microorganisms, such as the novel
coronavirus.
States across the country have begun to
relax stay-at-home restrictions, including
the return to nonurgent medical and dental
procedures. The safety of our patients, staff
and selves must be at the center of how we
emerge from this pandemic.
In this course, we'll review the current
recommendations for personal protective
equipment in a orthodontic setting, which
will likely be in place until widespread and
easily available point-of-care testing and
vaccines are available for this virus-or we
learn more about it.

Disclosure:
In the past 12 months, the authors declare that they have had a financial interest, arrangement or affiliation within the field of dentistry or
health care with the following: OstiSense, Academy for the Advancement of Leadership (Saeed); Verywell.com (Khoo).

JULY/AUGUST 2020 // orthotown.com

OT0720_Saeed,Khoo_CE-PPE_AG_V2.indd 66

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Orthotown July/August 2020

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