Description

This lecture will review the major points of learning from the COVID-19 pandemic, and highlight how those lessons will inform the management of future pandemic infections of respiratory viruses. The lecture will explore the levels of risk, the concept of transmission base precautions, and the need for restrictions in practice for highly contagious conditions. The second part of the lecture will discuss aerosol generating procedures, and how interventions including the appropriate use of high velocity suction and pre-procedural antimicrobial mouthwashes can reduce the generation of
aerosol and the infectivity of the aerosols. The third part of the lecture will review some of the most common mistakes that have been made with PPE, including protective eyewear, gowns, surgical masks and surgical respirators, and reinforce protocols for best practice in the use of these key items of PPE.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Appreciate how the level of measures taken in infection control is based on the perceived risk. Understand the ways that material from the mouth can be aerosolised and splattered around the dental office setting.
• Recognise when to use appropriate interventions to reduce aerosol generation. Be able to identify the common mistakes made in the wearing of personal protective equipment.

Prof. Laurence Walsh

Laurence Walsh is Professor of Dental Science and Head of the School of Dentistry at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. A registered specialist in the field of special needs dentistry, Laurence has played a major role in the ...

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