Dental Care during COVID-19 Outbreak: A Web-Based Survey

This survey aimed to assess the effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on elective and urgency/emergency dental care and dentists concerned.

A web-based survey was performed using Google forms questionnaire sent to dentists in Brazil. Questions included: personal information, type of dental care provided during quarantine, if emergencies increased, the dental office biosafety routine, among others. The levels of concern about the impact of quarantine on dental care and patient oral health conditions and the economic impact on dental practices were evaluated using a 0- to 10-point scale. Statistical analysis included descriptive, percentages, one-way ANOVA, Tukey, and chi-square tests.

During quarantine, 64.6% of the dentists attended only urgency/emergency treatments, while 26.1% maintained routine appointments, and 9.3% closed the dental offices. A higher percentage of dentists from the least affected states continued routine dental treatment; dentists were younger and presented a significantly lower level of concern about dental treatments and oral health conditions of their patients. An increase in urgency/emergency procedures was reported by 44.1% of the dentists, mostly due to the unavailability of routine/elective dental care and increased patient anxiety and stress. The main causes of urgency/emergency appointments were toothache, dental trauma, and broken restorations, besides the breakage of orthodontic appliances and temporomandibular disorders. Dentists reported a high level of concern about the economic impact caused by quarantine.

The pandemic/quarantine has negatively affected the clinical routine. Personal protection/hygiene care must be adopted and reinforced by dental professionals/staff to make dental procedures safer.