The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Dentistry Practices

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been declared as a pandemic disease by the World Health Organization on 11 thMarch, 2020. Various information has been shared from many sources regarding the protection of individuals at risk, especially health care workers after appearence of cases in Tur-key, Dentists constitute a high risk group due to the fact that the social distance required for prevention cannot be achieved and because of the transmission probability of the SARS-CoV-2 responsible for COVID-19 through aerosols and droplets during clinical procedures. In this review, the risks of transmission of COVID-19 in dentistry, general principles of prevention, the limits of emergency treatment other than elective treatments, and financial and ethical issues related to the subject in dental hospitals and clinics are discussed in the light of current literature and some suggestions are put forward.