2021 Volume 64 Issue 1 Pages 6-16
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic started in Wuhan, China, put all dentists in a difficult situation as modern dentistry had never experienced nor expected before. Even though the higher nosocomial infectious risk of COVID-19 in dental practice was pointed out at an early stage of the epidemic, there was no reliable method of controlling infection at that time. This article reviews the literature related to the crisis in Wuhan to figure out how Chinese dentists managed the world’s first epidemic of COVID-19.
Wuhan city, the capital of Hubei province of the People’s Republic of China, has a population of about 11.2 million. As the School and Hospital of Stomatology of Wuhan University (WHUSHS) ranks 32nd among the world’s dental schools, and second in Mainland China, WHUSHS plays a dominant role in the dentistry of this megalopolis. The outbreak of COVID-19 was made public on December 31, 2019 by the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission. On January 23, 2020, due to a rapid increase of COVID-19 cases, Wuhan plunged into a citywide lockdown, the largest quarantine in history. The government banned non-emergency dental treatment in Hubei province, and all emergency dental patients in Wuhan were directed to WHUSHS. WHUSHS immediately prepared an emergency dental treatment method tailored to the epidemic, including an online consultation system on social media for proper screening of emergency patients. Infection control methods were devised to combat the urgent problem. Their experiences and ideas were promptly compiled and used to publish accurate guidelines for COVID-19 infection control in dental practice. While a total of 2,025 emergency cases were treated at WHUSHS during the lockdown period, only nine hospital staffs were confirmed with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Among them, no cluster of disease nor cross infection case was identified. During that time, a greater proportion of endo related patients was found, whilst the total number of emergency patients considerably decreased. Because all emergency dental cases in quarantine were gathered at one dental hospital, their epidemiological data are valuable for analyzing the impact of COVID-19 on dentistry. To resume general dental treatment after lifting of the lockdown, a cautious and systematic procedure was prepared at WHUSHS.
Our review of publications from WHUSHS and related organizations revealed that dentists in Wuhan tactically and safely dealt with the world’s first COVID-19 epidemic.
