Oral and maxillofacial surgeons issue guidance to protect dentists and doctors during COVID-19 pandemic

The British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (BAOMS) and the British Association of Oral Surgeons (BAOS) have issued guidance calling on their members to protect themselves with FFP3 masks.

Evidence from China, Italy and the UK highlights the risk to doctors and dentists because they have to put their faces close to those of their patients to treat them. ENT (ears, nose and throat) and eye specialists have had higher infection rates than any other doctors. In the UK some ENT doctors are very seriously ill with COVID-19 that they caught from patients. The BAOMS and BAOS say that only the best face mask, the FFP3, should be used for examining and treating even symptom-free patients.

BAOMS chair Patrick Magennis said, “The risk for both oral and maxillofacial surgeons and our oral surgery colleagues is clear. Without symptoms we cannot recognise the patients who are infected. If we can’t protect ourselves, we should not be taking the chance because we need to keep well to treat others.”