I wanted to take a moment to share some interesting news. If you’ve been in for a visit, you may have noticed we are offering a pre-procedural mouth rinse. We began integrating this step into our process when we re-opened in May. So I was pleased to learn that a recently published study in the Journal of Medical Virology, investigating the virucidal properties of several over-the-counter oral and nasal rinse products, has demonstrated they were highly effective at inactivating infectious coronaviruses viruses.
It’s well-accepted that wearing masks and practicing social distancing can decrease the transmission of infectious disease. Yet, as the study notes, there are some contexts (e.g., during certain medical and dental procedures) where masking and socially distancing are simply not possible. I’m encouraged by the findings, as they could be used to help me and my fellow doctors and dentists further mitigate transmission risks for both our patients and staff in these contexts.
If you’d like to dig in deeper, here are a few links to explore:
- Dentistry Today – Some Mouthwashes May Inactivate Coronaviruses.
- Science Daily -Mouthwashes, oral rinses may inactivate human coronaviruses, study finds.
- Fox News – Human coronaviruses ‘inactivated’ by mouthwash, oral rinses.
- Washington Post – What those studies on mouthwash and coronaviruses actually mean.
More articles
