The State of Orthodontic Practice After the Outbreak of COVID-19 in Southeast Asia: The Current Scenario and Future Recommendations.

The emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by SARS-CoV-2 (SC2) virus, in late December 2019 has dramatically changed the way we access health care, and dental care is no exception. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared this virus outbreak as a pandemic with its spread through direct transmission via droplet inhalation, cough, sneeze, or via aerosol-generating procedures (AGPs), and contact transmission through oral, nasal, and eye mucous membranes. The clinical orthodontic practice involves the use of high-/low-speed handpiece for bonding, debonding, polishing and ultrasonic scalers for plaque removal. Oral sandblasting procedures generate high amounts of aerosols contaminated with infected patients' saliva and could pose a huge challenge for the treating dentists and orthodontists. In the Southeast Asian region, the spread of the virus has been largely contained but the entire situation has elicited a mixed response from practitioners and patients' alike. The problem most dentists including orthodontists are facing in this region at this point of time, is to identify sound safety protocols to prevent the spread of this highly transmissible virus.