COVID-19 pandemic and dental care: return protocol based on an integrative review

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic required various changes regarding the biosafety of healthcare professionals and patients. Thus, the aim of this study was to develop a return-to-dental-care protocol. An integrative review was conducted from August 2020 to March 2021, where the guiding question for the search was to determine what measures are being adopted worldwide to contain coronavirus infection in dental care. As a result, we have developed a return protocol divided into two phases: the first focused on pre-care and the second related to the actual dental care. The development of Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) brings safety to professionals and patients using dental services during the COVID-19 pandemic.