Dental Restrictions
The latest information on dental restrictions in metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria.
The ADAVB is currently recommending Level 1 dental restrictions for all Victoria. Refer to the Level 1 Decision Tree and ADA Dental Restrictions for more detailed information.
Note: There was some confusion about the Level 1 Decision Tree requiring rubber dam for ALL aerosol-generating procedures. The ADA Infection Control Committee has now updated this document to remove this inconsistency. The Level 1 Decision Tree for low risk patients now states 'Provide treatments permitted under Level 1 restrictions using standard precautions. Use a pre-procedural mouthwash, and where possible, a dental dam for procedures generating aerosols.' Where it is not possible (for example ultrasonic scaling or orthodontic de-banding), rubber dam is NOT required.
Dentists should assess the COVID-19 risk for each patient prior to treatment using clinical and epidemiological risk factors.
Clinical risk factors
- Fever >= 37.5 or history of fever (night sweats, chills) OR acute respiratory infection (i.e. cough, shortness of breath, sore throat) OR loss of smell or loss of taste.
Epidemiological risk factors
- Close contact with a confirmed or probable case in the past 14 days
- International travel in the past 14 days
- Healthcare, aged or residential aged care workers and staff with direct patient contact
- People who have lived in or travelled through a geographically localised area with elevated risk of community transmission, as defined by public health authorities.
Epidemiological risk
There is currently low community transmission in metropolitan Melbourne. Current data on community transmission can be found at dhhs.vic.gov.au/averages-easing-restrictions-covid-19
More ADA COVID-19 resources are available at ada.org.au/COVID19.
