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‘Life, is of course a misnomer, since viruses, lacking the ability to eat or respire, are officially dead, which is in itself intriguing, showing as it does that the habit of predation can be taken up by clusters of molecules that are in no way alive.’
Any guest editorial on COVID-19, an opinion piece by another title, has to be predicated on the notion of ‘incompleteness’. In this case, I have elected to update my previous essay on aerosols and dentistry, as our knowledge base has expanded but remains a jigsaw puzzle, pieces missing, perhaps never to be found. It is also the case that, since the date I wrote this piece, things may well have evolved further in this rapidly changing crisis.1
We are at a crossroads for the whole future of dentistry as a scientifically-based healing profession, balanced, as much of it is, with the requirement for the business of dentistry to thrive. On one hand, our absolute requirement to ‘first, do no harm’ has to somehow remain steadfast, as we are compelled to make life-defining decisions regarding our businesses, our financial security and preserving any joie de vivre we may have had for our profession before this ghastly virus slinked its loathsome way into our lungs.2,3
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