Aspects related to dental practice in Romania during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The SARS-CoV-2 virus has generated an unprecedented pandemic worldwide for the past 100 years. The healthcare systems have been profoundly challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic; also, tendencies of socio-economic and cultural changes have been observed during this period. One of the professions most affected by this pandemic is dentistry. For dental professionals, the explosion of information available online and through social networks sometimes generates uncertainty and identifying relevant scientific studies and guidelines, which allow the best decisions to be made in the professional activity, can be difficult. The moral obligation of all healthcare providers to care for their patients with the guiding principle of "primum non nocere" is very well known. In this context, national and international guidelines have been developed by accredited professional boards, to correctly inform dental professionals. The purpose of this paper is to identify and highlight the most relevant ethical and safety issues in Romania, which can be applied with confidence during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also in the future, to properly carry out our professional activity and show respect to our patients and to ourselves.

Keywords

• sars-cov-2 pandemic
• ethics
• romanian dental professionals