Aerosol Generation in Dental Practice: Current evidence and recommendations for mitigation (Rebroadcast for the Asia Pacific region)

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the risk posed by aerosol generating procedures has become a defining topic in dentistry. Oral health professionals are faced with new measures and recommendations, based on rapidly evolving understanding of SARS-CoV-2. This webinar will present current knowledge and recommendations related to aerosol mitigation in dental practice, as well as discussing new technologies being developed.

The webinar will have three presentations. The first one, presented by Dr Gerhard Seeberger, is an introduction to the relevance or aerosols during the COVID-19 pandemic. It will give the audience an understanding of how aerosols are generated and dispersed through dental procedures and instrumentation. It aims to give context to the following discussions of aerosol reduction/suppression and infection risk.

After this introduction, Professor Amal Chlyah will present other mitigation measures to reduce aerosol production. The rubber dam, ventilation and pre-procedural rinses will be at the heart of the presentation.

Dr Mark Antal will present a research summary on aerosol generation by instrument type and reduction of aerosols through evacuators and exhausters. The goal is to understand the difference in aerosol production with different instruments, and which can be use to reduce the aerosol production during dental procedures.

The last presentation is called “The physics of aerosol production”. It will be presented by Professor Lyndon Cooper and Professor Alexander Yarin. It will discuss how aerosols are generated and dispersed from the oral cavity during dental procedures, helping to understand how measures to reduce or mitigate aerosols work. It will present a novel technique for suppressing aerosols, developed by the speakers, and explain how collaboration between different disciplines led to its development.

Learning objectives:

• Understand what is currently known about aerosol generation in dental practice and its heightened relevance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Learn about equipment and measures to reduce and mitigate aerosol production, including novel approaches.
• Understand how different equipment and measures can be applied in practice
• Recap the production of aerosols in the dental clinic and mitigation measures
• Understand the focus on aerosols during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Gain an insight into the physics of aerosol production and dispersion in dental practice
• Learn about a novel approach to suppressing aerosol production – a viscoelastic Medusa Gorgo
• Learn about the different equipment that can be used to reduce aerosol production during dental procedures (e.g. rubber dam, saliva ejectors, high-volume evacuators).
• Learn about other measures that may be applied to mitigate risk from aerosols (e.g. general ventilation, pre-procedural rinses)

Release date: 2021-04-15 | Expiration date: 2024-04-15