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The Impact of the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Providing Special Care Dentistry: A Survey for Dentists.
Limeres Posse, Jacobo van Harten, Maria T Mac Giolla Phadraig, Caoimhin Diniz Freitas, Márcio Faulks, Denise Dougall, Alison Daly, Blánaid Diz Dios, Pedro
Limeres Posse, Jacobo
van Harten, Maria T
Mac Giolla Phadraig, Caoimhin
Diniz Freitas, Márcio
Faulks, Denise
Dougall, Alison
Daly, Blánaid
Diz Dios, Pedro
Advisors
Editors
Other Contributors
Departments
Date
2021-03-14
Date Submitted
Keywords
DENTAL HEALTH
COVID-19
DENTAL CARE
DENTISTRY
DISABILITY
special care dentistry
COVID-19
DENTAL CARE
DENTISTRY
DISABILITY
special care dentistry
Other Subjects
Subject Mesh
Planned Date
Start Date
Collaborators
Principal Investigators
Files
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ijerph-18-02970.pdf
Adobe PDF, 354.62 KB
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Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on the experiences of special care dentistry providers worldwide. An online survey was administered from 10 to 31 July 2020. Age, sex, years of professional activity, COVID-19 status, geographical area of origin and length of lockdown period were recorded for all participating dentists. The relationships between these variables and the changes in clinical activity, the treated patients' COVID-19 status and the implementation of protective measures in the dental clinic were analyzed. A total of 436 (70.6% women) dentists from 59 countries responded to the survey. Clinical activity was reduced or stopped for 79.1% of respondents. The most common change was to limit treatment to urgent care only (53.7%). Treatment under general anesthesia or deep sedation was discontinued (51.0%) or reduced (35.8%) for the majority of respondents. Male dentists were more likely to maintain their clinical activity than female dentists (p < 0.001), and respondents from North America were more likely to do so than participants from other geographical regions (p < 0.001). Dentists from Latin America and the Caribbean were more likely to report treatment of confirmed cases of COVID-19 than those from Europe (p < 0.001). The implementation of protective measures in the dental office was determined by the survey participant's sex, intensity of clinical activity and geographical area of origin. To conclude, the provision of special care dentistry was considerably reduced in response to the pandemic. Service maintenance was mainly related to the geographical area in which the surveyed dentists worked, further exacerbating pre-existing inequalities.
Language
en
Citation
ISSN
eISSN
1660-4601
ISBN
DOI
10.3390/ijerph18062970
PMID
33799369