What you need to know about the use of Face Masks

Two weeks ago, the experts (here in North America) were saying that there was NO NEED for the general public to be wearing Face Masks because they were ineffective at preventing the spread of disease and because they were contributing to a dwindling supply for front line healthcare workers. In South Korea, which had its first confirmed case of CoVID-19 on the same day as the United States, a different approach to the general use of Face Masks was taken, with startling differences in the trajectory of the disease. South Koreans are all being told to wear Face Masks to help reduce the transmissibility of the disease (via droplet transmission) and it appears to be working as the curve of infected people has been substantially flattened in South Korea, whereas in the USA it continues to display exponential growth with over the 305,820 infected patients and 8,291 dead (as of April 4,2020).  It appears that the use of Facial Masks by the general population is having a much more dramatic effect in South Korea than the alternative strategies being currently recommended here in Canada and the USA. On Sunday, April 5, 2020 the US Centers for Disease Control (“CDC”) started recommending that the general pubic wear non-medical face coverings because of a shortage of medical face masks but that recommendation continues to rapidly evolve….. Today, in fact, individual states like Florida and Louisiana are now mandating that if you leave your home you must wear a Face Mask…..

Many Doctors are also being told to re-use their Face Masks and are attempting to disinfect them with Alcohol.

To conserve Face Masks during this crisis, Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Canada put out a press release on March 23, 2020 to their HCWs detailing how their medical staff will be issued one mask per day which means they are being asked to re-use their Mask on multiple patients.

The need for a Procedural Mask Disinfection Protocol (for ALL Masks) has just become of utmost importance.

Toronto, CANADA: Mount Sinai Hospital information circulars to HCWs about how a “SINGLE PROCEDURAL MASK WILL BE ISSUED PER DAY” and how the “MASK WILL NOT BE CHANGED IN-BETWEEN PATIENTS

There is also significant confusion over the similarities and differences between a Level 2 or Level 3 ASTM 2100-2011 rated Procedural Mask and an N95 Respirator. These Masks ALL have the exact same “Delta P” specifications – The Level 3 ASTM Mask also has the identical Fluid Resistance Level (160mm Hg) as the N95 Mask and both Level 2 and level 3 ASTM Masks have the same Class 1 Flame spread as an N95 Respirator. The Bacterial Filtration Efficiency (“BFE”) of the N95 Mask is 99.9% only marginally better than the the Level 2 and Level 3 Mask which is 99% at 3 microns. However, IF that N95 mask is not fitted properly or does not have a proper seal that minute difference in Filtration Efficiency is lost. Particulate Filtration Rates for all 3 Masks are identical – greater than 99% at .1 microns.  So the question that begs asking is: why can’t Dentist’s and other Health Care Workers be allowed to use a Level 2 or Level 3 ASTM Mask to work on potentially infectious patients when studies have shown that there is no appreciable difference between the N95 and the Level 2/3 ASTM Procedural Mask:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31479137/

Here is a PRAGMATIC SOLUTION for Dentists regarding the use of Face Mask….If you Spray the inside and the outside of the Level 2 or Level 3 ASTM Mask with a proven broad spectrum Disinfectant like VeraSIL Protective Spray (which is skin friendly and not a schedule 1 drug) you can readily improve the overall Antimicrobial efficacy and performance of these Masks without putting you or your staff at additional risk. In fact you are providing an additional level of protection using a skin friendly, NanoSilver based broad spectrum Antimicrobial agent (proven to kill MRSA,VRE,CRE,Candida, Hep B and a long list of other oral pathogens). You cannot use Lysol spray or a general purpose disinfectant in this same manner because they are chemotoxic to humans. You cannot use Isopropyl alcohol in this manner because it evaporates and is not safe for oral ingestion. You can’t use a hospital grade surface disinfectant like Metricide, Cavicide, Glutaraldehyde or Accelerated Hydrogen Peroxide because these are highly chemotoxic to the skin and actually require the use of PPE before use. VeraSIL Protective Spray is NOT cytotoxic to humans but it is deadly to a wide variety of pathogenic microorganisms.

See https://ddsource.com/product/verasil-protective-spray/ or https://verasil.com/product/verasil-protective-spray/. If you would like to learn more about the Science of Nanotechnology please click on the individual products which will take you to a QR Product specific page where you can scroll down thru an expandable accordion of topics or you can use the following link https://ddsource.com/the-science-of-nanotechnology/

Posted by Dr. Andrew Willoughby, General Dentist