Role of respirators in controlling the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) amongst dental healthcare providers: A review

Document Type

Article

Department

Dental-oral, Maxillo-facial Surgery

Abstract

During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, health care professionals are at the forefront of managing the highly infectious corona virus. As the most common route of transmission is via aerosols and droplet inhalation, it is critical for health care workers to have the correct personal protective equipment (PPE) including gowns, masks, and goggles. Surgical masks are not effective in preventing the influenza and SARS, so they are unlikely to be able to resist contaminated aerosols form entering the respiratory system. Therefore, it is vital to use respirators which have been proven to offer better protection against droplets, aerosols and fluid penetration and which form a tight seal around the mouth and nose. Various types of respirators are used in healthcare settings, such as half-mask filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) and powered air-purifying respirators (PAPRs). The most commonly used FFR is the N95 disposable respirator, which is tight fitting and has a 95% or above particle filtering efficiency for a median particle size of 0.3 micrometer. This review discusses respirators, their purpose, typs, clinical efficiency and proper donning and doffing techniques.

Comments

Volume, issue, and pagination are not provided by the author/publisher

Publication (Name of Journal)

International Endodontic Journal

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