B.I.N.A: Hope for dentists during COVID-19?
HYDERABAD: Dentists across the country are being bombarded by calls from patients in real pain, but the treatment is being postponed, thanks to the Coronavirus lockdown. Responding to the need of patients, Dr Osman Shaikh created Box for Improving and Neutralizing Aerosols (B.I.N.A), a biosafety box which can be attached with the dental chair and is supposedly safe for dentists and for patients who are in urgent need of dental services. He believes it helps patients and lets dentists to open their clinics.
“My first thought was to isolate the patient to minimise the area which needs to be disinfected, while improving the efficiency and decrease the time consumed to fumigate the whole clinic after every patient (as per government guideline).
How it works
A dental aerosol is produced from dental instruments like ultrasonic scalers, dental handpieces, three-way syringes and other high-speed instruments. These aerosols are air suspended in the clinical environment. These aerosols can pose risks to the clinician, staff and other patients as well. The heavier particles (50 µm) of the aerosols suspend in the air for relatively short period and settle down quickly, but the lighter particles tend to remain suspended for longer periods and can enter the lungs when inhaled and possess the capacity of transmitting diseases.
"The size of the dental aerosol particles is less than 50 µm. The smaller particles are more likely to be inhaled and have the potential to transmit infections,” says the Mumbai-based doctor while explaining how the infection could spread. SARS-CoV-2 remains stable in aerosols for several hours and for few days on surfaces, hence the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is feasible through aerosols. Particles are classified based on size: coarse particles are 2.5–10 microns, fine particles are less than 2.5 microns, and ultrafine particles are less than 0.1 micron. The nose filters particles above 10 microns.
If a particle is less than 10 microns, it can enter the respiratory system. If it is less than 2.5 microns, it can enter the alveoli. A particle less than 0.1 micron, or an ultrafine particle like the Covid-19 virus, can enter the bloodstream and target organs such as the heart and brain. “The problem occurs when viral particles are aerosolized by a cough, sneeze, or dental care. In these instances, particles can potentially travel across far greater distances, with estimates up to 20 feet, from an infected person and then incite secondary infections elsewhere in the environment. Thus can infect health-care workers and contaminate surfaces.”
What it consists of
Dr Osman’s device comprises fully functional protective shield with movement of shield in every direction and filtration facilities to provide a clean atmosphere for a dentist to work upon any patient effectively without having to worry about anything as long as proper protective measures is being followed. “Every dentist across the world is facing the same situation due to Covid-19 and this device may help them,” he says while inviting investors or manufacturing companies to develop his idea on a commercial scale. Tooba Momin from National AIDS Research Institute, Pune, helped him in the design, he adds.
Dr Osman claims that B.I.N.A is a fully functional dental shield which not only provides complete protection from aerosol, but also is flexibile to an extent that a dentist will require to perform any procedure efficiently. “It is going to be a big surprise about the features this device will have until it hits the market. Now we are working for opthalmologists because their situation is same like dentists,” he concludes.
— Manju Latha Kalanidhi kalanidhi@newindianexpress.com @mkalanidhi