COVID-19 has had a huge impact on dentistry. Dental care professionals work in close proximity with patients, they are therefore at high risk of contracting coronavirus. As of 25th March, all routine dentistry was postponed.
The pandemic has led to clinic closures, university closures and postponement of exams and interviews. This has resulted in a deficit in clinical exposure for undergraduates and trainees. Changes in examination format have been implemented to prevent delays in course completions. The GDC have reassured that measures are being put in place to reduce the effect of COVID-19 on training.
CPD/Clinical Relevance: This article aims to explore the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on dental education and dental training programmes in the UK.
Article
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought routine dentistry to a halt, which leaves professionals in training programmes in unknown territory.
The New York Times identified dentistry as one of the highest risk professions for contracting the virus.1 This is due to the close working environment clinicians are in with numerous patients and the aerosol generating procedures (AGPs) that they perform on a daily basis. The Chief Dental Officer of England released guidance on 25th March 2020 which advised clinicians to implement the advice, analgesia and antimicrobial (where necessary) approach.2 At this point, all routine dentistry was stopped until further notice, which, by default, means that undergraduate training, dental foundation training, dental core training and specialist training have reached a clinical standstill.
The General Dental Council released a joint statement on 23rd March 2020 addressing the ‘arrangements for dental care professional students and recent graduates, while restrictions are in place to control the spread of COVID-19’.3 The guidance offers reassurance and outlines plans to be put in place to reduce the likelihood of delays in training and satisfactory completion of courses.
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