Title: Respiratory PPE for Dental Hygienists: Engineering Protection Controls for Aerosol-Generating Cleaning Procedures

Team: Edward Han, Elizabeth Wang, Mehak Sharma

Client: Dental Medicine – Beth Wilson, RDH; Rhoda Gonzales, RDH, RDHAP; Travis Trammel, RDH, RDHAP, PhD; & Becki Cole

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, most dental offices closed their doors. Since then, they have reopened with regulated procedures for PPE usage, patient screening, office capacity limits, and disinfection of operative surfaces. However, even with increased PPE standards, hygienists have a high occupational hazard of contracting COVID-19 due to their close-range interactions with unmasked patients and the aerosol-generation procedures performed in dental offices.

Our unmet need centers on addressing the risk of airborne transmission of COVID-19 caused by aerosol and splatter-generation procedures.