Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and dentistry–A comprehensive review of literature

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has become a real challenge for healthcare providers around the world and has significantly affected the dental professionals in practices, universities and research institutions. The aim of this article was to review the available literature on the relevant aspects of dentistry in relation to COVID-19 and to discuss potential impacts of COVID-19 outbreak on clinical dentistry, dental education and research. Although the coronavirus pandemic has caused many difficulties for provision of clinical dentistry, there would be an opportunity for the dental educators to modernize their teaching approaches using novel digital concepts in teaching of clinical skills and by enhancement of online communication and learning platforms. This pandemic has also highlighted some of the major gaps in dental research and the need for new relevant knowledge to manage the current crisis and minimize the impact of such outbreaks on dentistry in the future. In conclusion, COVID-19 has had many immediate complications for dentistry of which some may have further long-term impacts on clinical practice, dental education and dental research.