ABSTRACT
Aim: During the COVID-19 era, personal protective equipment (PPE) has become a necessary part of surgeons' routines, and face shields are considered an additional barrier to prevent disease transmission via aerosols. This study aimed to evaluate how often oral and maxillofacial surgeons (OMFS) use face shields and the challenges they face while using them. Methods: An online survey consisting of fourteen questions was distributed to OMFS, and the responses were collected and analyzed using the chi-square test to determine any associations between categorical variables. A P-value of ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Out of the 310 OMFS who responded to the survey (181 males, 129 females, 235 residents, 10 fellows, and 65 practitioners), 42.9% (133/310) and 39.4% (122/310) reported using face shields for minor and major surgical procedures, respectively. The majority of the respondents (74.1%, 230/310) reported decreased efficiency while using a face shield. Reasons for non-compliance included vision-related issues, headache, difficulties with disinfection, and ergonomic factors. Conclusion: Based on the survey results, the regular use of face shields by OMFS was less frequent, and almost three-fourths of the surgeons found it challenging to use due to various reasons. The reduced compliance with face shield usage highlights the need for more ergonomic face shields to improve compliance.
ABSTRACT
We report an interesting case of a post-traumatic actinomycotic oro-antral fistula of the left posterior maxilla, that was not salvageable via local flaps due to the size of the defect and was managed with the patient-specific titanium implant, fabricated by three-dimensional stereolithographic model planning followed by primary closure.
