Published online: 2021-03-10 THIEME 388 Review Disinfectants Article against SARS-CoV-2 Stawarz-Janeczek et al. Disinfectants Used in Stomatology and SARS-CoV-2 Infection Magdalena Stawarz-Janeczek1 Agata Kryczyk-Poprawa2 Bożena Muszyńska3 Włodzimierz Opoka2 Jolanta Pytko-Polończyk1 1Department of Integrated Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine, Address for correspondence Agata Kryczyk-Poprawa, PhD, Department Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Jagiellonian 2Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of University Medical College, Medyczna 9 Street, 30-688 Kraków, Poland Pharmacy, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland (e-mail:
[email protected]). 3Department of Pharmaceutical Botany, Faculty of Pharmacy, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland Eur J Dent 2021;15:388–400 Abstract Effective disinfection is a basic procedure in medical facilities, including those conduct- ing dental surgeries, where treatments for tissue discontinuity are also performed, as it is an important element of infection prevention. Disinfectants used in dentistry and dental and maxillofacial surgery include both inorganic (hydrogen peroxide, sodium chlorite-hypochlorite) and organic compounds (ethanol, isopropanol, peracetic acid, chlorhexidine, eugenol). Various mechanisms of action of disinfectants have been reported, which include destruction of the structure of bacterial and fungal cell mem- branes; damage of nucleic acids; denaturation of proteins, which in turn causes inhi- bition of enzyme activity; loss of cell membrane integrity; and decomposition of cell components. This article discusses the most important examples of substances used as disinfectants in dentistry and presents the mechanisms of their action with par- ticular focus on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).