The THL's coronavirus guidelines for oral health care have been updated
The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) has updated its instructions for oral health care units during the COVID-19 epidemic. The updated guideline has reduced the number of additional precautions to be taken in oral health care, as both corona vaccination coverage and scientific knowledge have increased.
THL recommends taking the coronavirus vaccine for all those working in oral health care. However, the employee's coronavirus vaccination or previously had coronavirus disease does not affect the precautionary measures or the recommendations for the use of protective equipment.
It is still recommended that staff continue to use surgical masks in all reception areas. The same recommendation also applies to patients except during treatment.
The patient's close contact with an infected person is no longer necessarily a reason to postpone non-urgent treatment if the patient has received a complete vaccination series. The communicable disease control physician decides on quarantine on a case-by-case basis. In the future, COVID-19 patients in need of urgent treatment and those exposed will be treated according to specific arrangements, not necessarily in separate treatment facilities.
Patients who have returned from abroad in a health secure manner can be treated normally. If the criteria for a health secure return are not met, the patient is treated as exposed to COVID-19.
Omitted from the updated guideline:
- 2 m safety distance recommendation
- Recommendation to limit the number of escorts
- Recommendation for restricting movement from room to room, for example in consultation situations and in a multi-room model
- Guidance on the treatment of those at risk of serious coronavirus disease
- Recommended swishing for those presumed healthy
- Recommended air outflow from the contra-angle handpiece
- Avoiding taking intraoral images when treating a coronavirus patient
- Recommendation for restricted use of FFP2 masks in the absence of strong aerosol formation
The updated THL guideline is a recommendation that regional and local actors can use to assist in drafting their own guidelines. The guidelines are not legally binding.
Regional State Administrative Agencies and hospital districts assess the local epidemic situation in cooperation with the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. In addition to general instructions, they provide regional instructions, which should also be followed by oral health care actors.
Further information
Ulla Harjumaa
Chief Dentist
[email protected]
