Use of preoperative mouthwash during the pandemic: report of the Dental Clinic

Abstract

The angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor, the main target of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, is abundant in the oral cavity, making it a reservoir for the pathogenicity of COVID-19 disease. Thus, the use of mouthwash prior to dental care was adopted by several institutions, with chlorhexidine, cetylpyridinium chloride, povidone-iodine and hydrogen peroxide being the most described solutions. The objective is to report the experience of the Dental Clinic of the State University of Maringá (COD-UEM) regarding the adoption of a protocol for the use of mouthwash in practical activities during the pandemic. Although there are no recommendations from the Ministries of Health, the World Health Organization or scientific evidence that this practice acts in a preventive way, like other services, the COD-UEM, in the biosafety protocol of the plan for resuming clinical undergraduate activities during the pandemic, it started to use a mouthwash with 0.12% chlorhexidine, which could be replaced by 1% hydrogen peroxide or povidone-iodine. Based on the experience described, it was concluded that, despite the scarcity of scientific evidence, the use of mouthwashes is a resource frequently used to reduce the number of microorganisms in the oral cavity during treatment, and it is important to consider its use until further research supplements are carried out.