Pre-dental treatment screening in Indonesia during the COVID-19 pandemic: a questionnaire survey of dental practitioners.

BACKGROUND: Dental practitioners have a high risk of contracting COVID-19 during the treatment of patients because of exposure to airborne droplets. However, the application of pre-procedure treatment screening in dental practices in Indonesia varied during the pandemic. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of updated pre-procedure dental treatment protocols and procedures among dental practitioners in Indonesia. METHODS: This study consisted of dentists registered as members of the Indonesian Dental Association who attended the Indonesian Dental Association webinar series in 2021. All the participants completed a questionnaire survey. The participants, who were from various regions in Indonesia, were granted password-protected access to a URL hosting the questionnaire. The questionnaire collected demographic information and contained questions on adherence to updated protocols and patient screening procedures, to which the respondents answered "Yes" or "No". For the analysis, the participants were divided into three groups based on the type of facility where they were employed: public (government) hospitals, private hospitals, or university hospitals (dental schools). A chi-square test was used to investigate the association between professional background and the implementation of updated protocols, including pre-procedure dental treatment screening. A value of P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The age range of the participants was 20 - 60 years. The participants worked in facilities in 32 provinces in Indonesia. In total, there were 5,323 participants (males: n = 829; females: n = 4,494). In terms of professional backgrounds, 2,171, 2,867, and 285 participants were employed in government hospitals, private hospitals, and dental faculties, respectively. Among 5,232 participants who implemented updated COVID-19 prevention protocols, 5,053 (98%) participants performed pre-surgery procedures Among 151 participants who did not implement updated COVID-19 prevention protocols, 133 (88%) individuals carried out pre-rinse procedures. CONCLUSIONS: Almost all the dental practitioners employed in government hospitals, private hospitals, and dental faculties in Indonesia performed pre-surgery patient screening procedures. There was an agreement between the dental professionals in all three settings on the need for COVID-19 pre-treatment screening procedures in dental practices during the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 pre-procedural testing strategy and early outcomes at a large tertiary care children's hospital.

PURPOSE: With the emergence of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, institutions were tasked with developing individualized pre-procedural testing strategies that allowed for re-initiation of elective procedures within national and state guidelines. This report describes the experience of a single US children's hospital (Children's Wisconsin, CW) in developing a universal pre-procedural COVID-19 testing protocol and reports early outcomes. METHODS: The CW pre-procedural COVID-19 response began with the creation of a multi-disciplinary taskforce that sought to develop a strategy for universal pre-procedural COVID-19 testing which (1) maximized patient safety, (2) prevented in-hospital viral transmission, (3) conserved resources, and (4) allowed for resumption of procedural care within institutional capacity. RESULTS: Of 11,209 general anesthetics performed at CW from March 16, 2020 to October 31, 2020, 11,150 patients (99.5%) underwent pre-procedural COVID-19 testing. Overall, 1.4% of pre-procedural patients tested positive for COVID-19. By June 2020, CW was operating at near-normal procedural volume and there were no documented cases of in-hospital viral transmission. Only 0.5% of procedures were performed under augmented COVID-19 precautions (negative pressure environment and highest-level personal protective equipment). CONCLUSION: CW successfully developed a multi-disciplinary pre-procedural COVID-19 testing protocol that enabled resumption of near-normal procedural volume within three months while limiting in-hospital viral transmission and resource use.