New and Emerging Infections : Impact on the Practice of Dentistry in Nigeria
Abstract
Objective: To highlight the challenges and impacts of COVID 19 on dental practice in Nigeria.
Materials and Methods: A literature search was done using Electronic databases such as Medline, Pub Med and Google Scholar. Words that were searched included “New and Emerging Infections, challenges and Impact on Practice of Dentistry in Nigeriaâ€.
Results: New and emerging Infections have far reaching impacts on public health. The dental clinic is a probable environment for the airborne transmission of these infections due to the generation of aerosols and the close contact between the health workers and patients.
Conclusion: Strict infection control measures are mandatory in the dental clinic. This translates to prohibitive cost of treatment as most practices have to include additional cost for things as personal protective equipment, disinfectants.