Emergency appointments and psychological distress during COVID-19 lockdown among orthodontic patients in Spain

COVID-19 created an unexpected situation for dental patients. However, the impact of the lockdown on orthodontic patients is still unknown. Hence, this study was conducted to analyse the number and type of emergencies, distress and fear of getting infected among brackets and aligners orthodontic patients during the COVID-19 lockdown.

A total of 324 questionnaires about emergency appointments during the lockdown and Kessler Psychological Distress Scale-K10 were distributed between March and December 2022 among patients who were on active orthodontic treatment during lockdown at the Master of Orthodontics at the University Alfonso X el Sabio during February and December 2022. Chi-square was used to compare groups.

Emergency appointment was needed by 37.78% of patients during lockdown: 73.5% among those with aligners and 45.9% with brackets (p<.01). Loose bracket was the most prevalent emergency for bracket patients and lack of aligners among invisible orthodontic patients. Of those, 36.95% in need of orthodontic emergency appointments didn´t attend the clinic for fear of being infected; 21% of patients had high or very high anxiety levels.

Orthodontic patients had moderate levels of anxiety and fear of being infected during lockdown. Of these, 31.78% needed an emergency appointment. Key words:Orthodontics, COVID-19, dental healthcare, dentistry, emergency.