AEROSOLS IN DENTISTRY AMID SARS-COV-2 The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has caused a considerable amount of apprehension in dental practitioners and patients alike. Since dental procedures generate aerosols, increased infection risk is at the forefront of dentist’s concerns. Dr. Dana Graves
Dr. Dana Graves, Professor of Periodontics and Vice Dean for Research & Scholarship, and Dr. David Hershkowitz, Division Chief of Restorative Dentistry led a study aimed to establish risk of Covid-19 in a dental setting in which aerosols are generated. Through the prospective observational study, they wanted to determine if a dental office was a safe environment when proper PPE was implemented. Faculty, staff, and students who practiced dentistry only at PDM, had 10 or more hours of direct patient exposure, and had no confirmed past Covid-19 infections were qualified for the study. Enrolled participants completed study visits once every two months at which time venous blood was drawn for serologic analysis to detect the presence of antibodies to SARSCoV-2. Launched in partnership with the Perelman School of Medicine, the study began in September 2020 and terminated early in January 2021 due to the emergence of vaccines.
Dr. David Hershkowitz
There was a high level of collaboration throughout the process. The Center for Clinical and Translational Research spearheaded the study with the help of Dr. Joseph Fiorellini, Professor of Periodontics, who assembled a team of residents who were trained to perform the blood collection as per the research protocol. The Dean’s office was instrumental in providing funding, and Dr. Jordan-Sciutto’s lab prepared the blood samples. Dr. Scott Hensley’s lab at the Dept of Microbiology, PSOM was in charge of the antibody analysis. “I thought it was an extraordinarily high level of cooperation. We couldn’t have pulled this off without the contribution of everyone involved. And that includes subjects who volunteered, the Clinical Research Center, including Pat Corby, Kira Nightingale, Rosa Urbina, and the team of research assistants and residents who contributed to the overall study conduct. Although we believed the study was an important step in assessing PDM practices to prevent spread of Covid-19 during patient contact, this would never have gotten off the ground if it were not for the team.” —Dr. Graves
Dr. Pat Corby
8 EXPLORER . SPRING 2021
The study found that the infection rate at PDM was 5.5%, and that all of the positive antibody cases were traced to exposure outside of PDM. Therefore, infectious risk outside
