New study shows dental workers were not at greater risk during Covid pandemic
A new study shows that dental professionals were not at greater risk of getting Covid-19 during the pandemic.
Research conducted by a team at Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) suggests that workers with clinical roles were less likely to catch the virus than those in non-clinical roles. Dentists and other members of the clinical team had a test positivity rate of 0.25% in settings where testing was widely available and staff had access to PPE. The positivity rate for workers in non-clinical roles, including students and faculty staff, was 0.36%.
There was a belief that people working in the healthcare sector were at greater risk of contracting Covid than the general public at the start of the pandemic. However, studies indicate that rates of infection were higher among the public and health and dental staff who had non-clinical roles. This is likely to be due to the availability of PPE and priority access to the vaccine in some cases.
Sung Choi, an instructor in oral health policy and epidemiology at HDSM, explained that the “overall asymptomatic test positivity rate remained low at 0.27%,” which suggests that “being involved in clinical activities did not increase the risk of Covid-19.”
The team suggested that the findings of the study show that dental work can be undertaken “safely in academic settings when faced with future virus outbreaks.” The study also revealed that frequent testing, and testing based on risk status of individuals, was an effective way to reduce infection rates and steam the spread of the virus.
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