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Copyright of Interface - Comunicação, Saúde, Educação is the property of Fundacao UNI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Aim: To investigate surveillance, biosafety, and education strategies of Brazilian oral health care workers (OHCWs) during the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study covering OHCWs from a single multicenter research centre. A self-administered and validated online questionnaire was used for data collection, including the following variables: sociodemographic, medical history, biosafety, professional experience, surveillance, and education. Results: The sample consisted of 644 OHCWs (82.5% dentists, 13.2% dental assistants and 4.3% technicians), most without comorbidities (84.8%), from the public (51.7%) and private (48.3%) health systems, in 140 cities of a southern state. The most prominent measures of surveillance were waiting room distancing and visual alerts, symptom assessment, and availability of guidelines on COVID-19. Regarding biosafety measures, the lowest adherence was related to intraoral radiographs (2.7±1.4; 95%CI: 2.6-2.9), use of dental dams (2.1±1.4; 95%CI: 2.0-2.2), and availability of high-power suction systems (2.5±1.7; 95%CI: 2.3-2.6). Among OHCWs, 52.6% received guidance on measures to take during dental care in the workplace. Continuing education was mainly through documents from non-governmental health authorities (77.4%). Conclusion: Surveillance and biosafety measures were adopted, but activities that reduce the spread of aerosols had less adherence. These findings underscore the importance of considering dental practices, and surveillance and education strategies to formulate policies and relevant support to address health system challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. A coordinated action of permanent education by policymakers is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Saberes Plurais is the property of Saberes Plurais and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Saberes Plurais is the property of Saberes Plurais and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)