A recent FDI World Dental Federation global survey revealed that two-thirds of the responding countries are not allowing dentists to administer SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. However, dentists will be among the first to receive the vaccine in half of the responding countries. (Image: Leremy/Shutterstock)

GENEVA, Switzerland: Like other oral health professionals, dentists are front-line workers who provide an essential healthcare service. Accordingly, many countries have included dentists in priority vaccination groups. But what about allowing dentists to administer SARS-CoV-2 vaccines? A recent survey conducted by FDI World Dental Federation revealed that only one-third of the responding countries permitted vaccine administration by dentists. In light of the results, FDI has urged more countries to enable dentists to administer the vaccines.

Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 are considered crucial by many as they could potentially help relax certain control measures that are in place to help slow down the spread of the virus. The US Food and Drug Administration has already granted emergency use authorisation to three vaccines: those developed by BioNTech and Pfizer, Moderna and, just recently, Janssen. In Europe, besides the BioNTech and Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, a vaccine from AstraZeneca has been recently been accepted as safe and effective by the European Commission. According to the World Health Organization, there are currently 262 vaccines either in preclinical or clinical development, and FDI recently stated that, by late January 2021, approximately 100 million SARS-CoV-2 vaccine doses had been administered in over 50 countries.

Vulnerable populations, including the elderly and at-risk groups such as healthcare workers, are among the first to receive the vaccine. Dentists have regular interactions with patients about their oral and overall health and have received extensive training in the medical field, which is why FDI believes that they are well positioned to support the national COVID-19 vaccination programmes. However, the survey showed that many member countries do not share this opinion.

Survey results

The survey included 57 member national dental associations from all over the world and was facilitated by FDI’s COVID-19 Task Team. It revealed that nearly two-thirds of the responding countries had not granted dentists permission to administer SARS-CoV-2 vaccines as part of national vaccine roll-out strategies. European countries that do not permit dentists to administer the vaccine include Switzerland, Portugal, Austria, Denmark, Slovakia and Russia.

According to FDI, l’Ordre National des Chirurgiens-Dentistes (National College of Dental Surgeons) in France has urged the French government to permit dentists to distribute the vaccines, but without success. Discussions are also taking place in Spain, Sweden, Ireland, Australia, Kenya, Hong Kong and Germany, FDI noted.

“Oral health is a fundamental component of overall health and well-being and oral healthcare is an essential public service,” Dr Gerhard Konrad Seeberger, president of FDI World Dental Federation, said in a press release. “Efforts should be made to enable dentists to administer COVID-19 vaccines when possible within national legislation and regulations, and with minimal disruption to oral healthcare services,” he continued.

According to the survey results, the countries that have granted vaccine administration authorisation to the profession include Cambodia, Colombia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Nigeria, Serbia, Slovenia and the UK. In the US, approximately 20 states currently permit dentists to administer SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. FDI noted that some of the aforementioned countries have not previously allowed dentists to administer vaccines, or at least not the influenza vaccine.

Besides vaccine administration by dentists, the survey also examined the prioritisation of dentists in SARS-CoV-2 vaccine roll-out programmes. According to the findings, 53% of the responding countries said that dentists would be included in priority vaccination groups, 12% said that they would not, and 18% responded that the vaccination programme and priority groups were still pending. Countries that did not include dentists in the first phase of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine roll-out include Cambodia, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Romania, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Thailand.

1. Saleem Saleh Ali says:

   April 16, 2021 at 5:07 pm

   Congratulations

2. Alain says:

   April 16, 2021 at 9:44 am

   Bonjour Ricci ayant moi meme 6 implants et ressentant comme des petit picotements j aurai souhaite savoir comment se manifestait votre sensibilite et depuis combien de temps aviez vous votre implant Merci pour votre reponse Alain

3. Cleonice says:

   April 16, 2021 at 3:22 am

   Para ser coordenador tem que ser somente os cirurgioes dentistas ou podem ser auxiliares odontologicos
   ASB

4. H. Suliman says:

   April 15, 2021 at 10:44 pm

   Cool

5. Sandra Ore says:

   April 15, 2021 at 8:01 pm

   Hello,

   Is there an update on the commercialization of this procedure – the regrowth of teeth through stem cells at Columbia University College of Dental Medicine? Have family that are interested and would benefit from it. Please do respond.

6. RAVI says:

   April 15, 2021 at 7:15 pm

   ORF1ab Detected (CT-31)
   N gene Detected (CT-32)
   HOW MUCH INFECTED RISK AND HOW MUCH IS AT RISK
   MY AGE 48, I AM DIABTIC
   I AM USING GLADOR M1, AND TGLIP, GLORISTAT

7. Marie says:

   April 14, 2021 at 5:17 pm

   Très intéressant.
   Les patients sans défense immunitaire doivent également bénéficier de soin adapté.
   Pas toujours facile pour nos professionnels de s’adapter.

8. Eliana Paez says:

   April 13, 2021 at 10:32 pm

   Hola buenas tardes, se dictará el posgrado en 2021?

9. catherine chapuis says:

   April 13, 2021 at 9:53 am

   Bonjour, y a t il une liste de pratiquants dentistes en France ? dentiste holistiques qui posent des implants en céramique et non en titane? merci de votre retour. Cordialement

10. Krutik says:

    April 13, 2021 at 6:38 am

    My father’s age is 53 year he had his Covid19 report yesterday and his N gene(ct) is 24 and orf gene(ct) is 25 so may you please let me know how much infected he is and how much he is at risk