Experience of patients diagnosed as asymptomatic COVID-19 after dental treatment

• Main Authors: Ju-Yeon Seo, Sung-Tak Lee, So-Young Choi, Jin-Wook Kim, Tae-Geon Kwon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SpringerOpen 2021-09-01
• Series: Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Subjects: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Asymptomatic; Dental treatment; Personal protective equipment
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40902-021-00316-4

Abstract Background The potential risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmission from asymptomatic COVID-19 patients is a concern in dental practice. However, the impact of this risk is not well documented to date. This report describes our dental clinical experience with patients who did not exhibit symptoms of COVID-19 but were later confirmed as positive for COVID-19. Case presentation Of the 149,149 patients who visited the outpatient clinic of KNUDH and the 3291 patients who visited the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Clinic of KNUH, 3 were later confirmed as having COVID-1 between 1 February 2020 and 28 February 2021. Owing to close contact with these patients during their treatments, 46 dental and medical staff had to undergo quarantine from the date of the patients’ confirmation of COVID-19 infection. Conclusion The presented cases showed the potential existence of asymptomatic COVID-19 patients after dental treatment with aerosol-generating procedures. Clinicians should be aware of the infection prevention measures and try to protect healthcare personnel from secondary infection of COVID-19 during dental treatments.