The Impact of COVID-19 on General and Dental Health

Abstract

COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019) is a contagious infection caused by novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2). This novel virus was publicly announced as an infectious pathogen by the “Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention” on 8 January 2020. The World Health Organization named COVID-19 a pandemic crisis all over the world on March 11, 2020. Aged people and medically compromised people like patients with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer are the vulnerable populations for developing an illness. A guideline has been postulated and described in the form of a journey map to avoid exposure of dental health care professionals to COVID-19. This review provides a comprehensive outlook for the current pandemic situation, its origin, spread, and preventive measures to be utilized in general and in dental practice.