Blood Oxygen Level with Long-Term Use of N95 Face Mask in Dental Practice during Coronavirus Pandemic “Covid-19”

Abstract

Wearing a mask for a long time, particularly N95, is sometimes uncomfortable, annoying, and confining, making  catching breath difficult and reducing the oxygen level in the blood. The study aimed to investigate the change in blood  oxygen level when wearing an N95 mask for three hours among dental practitioners in dental clinics and the impact of  low O₂ levels on the general status of students while working in a stressful environment.

Material and methods: The  sample included 82 adult healthy senior dental students attending the student oral  surgery clinical sessions. All  Participants had their oxygen saturation SpO₂ measured using a portable pulse oximeter  before, 1 hour, 2 hours, and 3 hours after wearing the mask, and were allowed to describe their feeling of discomfort  throughout the study. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP), and heart rate (HR) were also measured  before and 3 hours after wearing the mask.

Results: 84.15% (n= 69) of the participants reported some discomfort  affecting their general status and clinical performance. There was a statistically significant increase in mean heart rate  after three hours (P-value = 0.001) while there was no statistically significant change in mean systolic/diastolic blood  pressure after three hours (P-value = 0.630) and (P-value=0.407), respectively. On the other hand, the mean oxygen saturation after three hours showed a  statistically significant lower value compared with baseline measurement.

Conclusion: This study revealed a decrease in  the oxygen saturation (SpO₂) and a slight increase in pulse rate  compared to baseline values in all students three hours after wearing an N95 face mask. In addition, the N95 mask  induced discomfort in breathing, a decrease in physical performance, and increased fatigue not related to prolonged  standing and stress.