Society of British Dental Nurses welcomes SDCEP review

The Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme (SDCEP) review of mitigation of aerosol-generating procedures in dentistry represents the agreed positions of a working group comprising subject specialists in particle physics, aerobiology and clinical virology.

Dental professionals from all four nations from across primary care, secondary care, academia and public health were represented.

The report considered evidence on the generation and mitigation of aerosols in dental practice, and the associated risk of coronavirus transmission.

The different approach to the report divides dental procedures into three categories of aerosol generation potential according to the instruments used, with fallow periods recommended only for the highest risk procedures, and suggests the determination of fallow time using a multifactorial approach – a key consideration being the number of air changes per hour.