Journal article
Testing for COVID-19 in dental offices Mechanism of action, application, and interpretation of laboratory and point-of-care screening tests
The Journal of the American Dental Association (1939), Vol.152(7), pp.514-525.e8
07/01/2021
DOI: 10.1016/j.adaj.2021.04.019
PMCID: PMC8096195
PMID: 34176567
Abstract
Background. The dental office potentially possesses all transmission risk factors for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Anticipating the future widespread use of COVID-19 testing in dental offices, the authors wrote this article as a proactive effort to provide dental health care providers with current and necessary information surrounding the topic.
Methods. The authors consulted all relevant and current guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Food and Drug Administration, as well as online resources and review articles.
Results. Routine COVID-19 screening and triage protocols are unable to detect all infected people. With the advancements in diagnostic tools and techniques, COVID-19 testing at home or in the dental office may provide dentists with the ability to evaluate the disease status of their patients. Athome or point-of-care (POC) tests, providing results within minutes of being administered, would allow for appropriate measures and rapid decisions about dental patients' care process. In this review, the authors provide information about available laboratory and POC COVID-19 screening methods and identify and elaborate on the options available for use by dentists as well as the regulatory requirements of test administration.
Conclusions. Dentists need to be familiar with COVID-19 POC testing options. In addition to contributing to public health, such tests may deliver rapid, accurate, and actionable results to clinical and infection control teams to enhance the safe patient flow in dental practices.
Practical Implications. Oral health care must continue to offer safety in this or any future pandemics. Testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 at the POC offers a control mechanism contributing to and enhancing the real and perceived safety of care in the dental office setting.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Testing for COVID-19 in dental offices Mechanism of action, application, and interpretation of laboratory and point-of-care screening tests
- Creators
- Sajjad Shirazi - University of Illinois ChicagoClark M. Stanford - University of Illinois ChicagoLyndon F. Cooper - University of Illinois Chicago
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- The Journal of the American Dental Association (1939), Vol.152(7), pp.514-525.e8
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.adaj.2021.04.019
- PMID
- 34176567
- PMCID
- PMC8096195
- NLM abbreviation
- J Am Dent Assoc
- ISSN
- 0002-8177
- eISSN
- 1943-4723
- Publisher
- Amer Dental Assoc
- Number of pages
- 20
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 07/01/2021
- Academic Unit
- Roy J. Carver Department of Biomedical Engineering; Dentistry Administration; Prosthodontics; Orthopedics and Rehabilitation; Craniofacial Anomalies Research Center
- Record Identifier
- 9984367622702771
Metrics
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