E-Mail Alexandria, Va., USA -- COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic in March 2020 and given an incomplete understanding of the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 at that time, the American Dental Association recommended that dental offices refrain from providing non-emergency services. As a result, 198,000 dentists in the United States closed their doors to patients. The study "Sources of SARS-CoV-2 and Other Microorganisms in Dental Aerosols," published in the Journal of Dental Research (JDR), sought to inform infection-control science by identifying the source of bacteria and viruses in aerosol generating dental procedures. Researchers at The Ohio State University College of Dentistry, Division of Periodontology, Columbus, USA, tracked the origins of microbiota in aerosols generated during treatment of 28 patients undergoing ultrasonic scaling, implant osteotomy or restorative procedures by combining reverse transcriptase qPCR, to identify and quantify SARS-CoV-2, and 16S sequencing, to characterize the entire microbiome, with fine-scale enumeration and source-tracking. Thirty minutes following the procedure, condensate was collected from the operator and assistant's face shield, the patient's chest and an area 6-feet distant from the site of operation.