ArticleSafety science2020
A scoping review of surgical masks and N95 filtering facepiece respirators: Learning from the past to guide the future of dentistry.
Article in Safety science, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Classification Schemes of COVID-19 High Risk Areas and Resulting Policies: A Rapid Review.Frontiers in public health · 2022Pooled it
- Microscopic characterization of level 3 surgical masks in a simulation model of dental care: a preliminary study.BMC oral health · 2025Article
- Effect of Surgical Masks and N95 Respirators on Anxiety.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2024Article
- Occupational risk of COVID-19 across pandemic waves: a two-year national follow-up study of hospital admissions.Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2022Article
- "Dentist as Smile Weavers" An Online Survey on Infection Surveillance, Emergency Treatment, Economic Setbacks, and Stress Endured by Periodontists of South India during COVID-19.Journal of pharmacy & bioallied sciences · 2022Article
- Article
- Review
- SARS-CoV-2 and Health Care Worker Protection in Low-Risk Settings: a Review of Modes of Transmission and a Novel Airborne Model Involving Inhalable Particles.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2020Review
- Effects of mask-wearing on the inhalability and deposition of airborne SARS-CoV-2 aerosols in human upper airway.Physics of fluids (Woodbury, N.Y. : 1994) · 2020Article
- Historical Evolution and Filtering Characteristics of Masks and Respirators in Dentistry in the Context of COVID-19: A Literature Review.Journal of International Society of Preventive & Community DentistryReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
With the 2019 emergence of coronavirus disease 19 (colloquially called COVID-19) came renewed public concern about airborne and aerosolized virus transmission. Accompanying this concern were many conflicting dialogues about which forms of personal protective equipment best protect dental health care practitioners and their patients from viral exposure. In this comprehensive review we provide a thorough and critical assessment of face masks and face shields, some of the most frequently recommended personal safeguards against viral infection. We begin by describing the function and practicality of the most common mask types used in dentistry: procedural masks, surgical masks, and filtering respirator facemasks (also called N95s). This is followed by a critical assessment of mask use based on a review of published evidence in three key domains: the degree to which each mask type is shown to protect against airborne and aerosolized disease, the reported likelihood for non-compliance among mask users, and risk factors associated with both proper and improper mask use. We use this information to conclude our review with several practical, evidence-based recommendations for mask use in dental and dental educational clinics.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.