Letters to the Editor

As the current situation regarding the COVID-19 pandemic escalates rapidly all over the world, dental practitioners need to be equipped with up-to-date recommendations regarding effective measures to reduce aerosols during emergency dental procedures. Apart from the essential and enhanced measures, such as: high volume suction, personal protection (PPE), time and procedures for decontamination and between patients, it is also advised to apply a pre-procedural mouthrinse to minimize the viral load intra-orally. According to the launched first version of ‘Red Phase Guidance’ document, created by All Wales Clinical Dental Leads COVID-19 Group (March 2020), the hydrogen peroxide mouthrinse is suggested to reduce the amount of virus in the aerosol, however, it is not essential and evidence is not clear whether this advice should also cover the COVID case.¹ From the point of view of patients' health and safety, undoubtedly it could be a useful adjunct, as pre-operational antimicrobial mouthrinse is generally believed to reduce the number of oral microbiota. What is more, pre-procedural mouthrinse would be most useful when rubber dam cannot be applied.