Family Health Program, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation - Ceará (Fiocruz-CE), Eusébio, Brazil.
Faculty of Dentistry, Christus University Center (Unichristus), Fortaleza, Brazil.
Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2022 Feb;16(1):254-261. doi: 10.1017/dmp.2020.342. Epub 2020 Sep 10.
To investigate knowledge and practice of Brazilian public primary and secondary health care dentists during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
An online questionnaire with sociodemographic and COVID-19 knowledge questions was used.
A total of 4048 dentists working in the Brazilian public primary and secondary health care system were investigated; 4024 (99.41%) believe that COVID-19 can be transmitted through dental procedures. A fair level of COVID-19 symptoms knowledge by these dentists was observed (3.76±1.27 of 6.00), as well as the skepticism in personal protective equipment (3382; 83.55%) and biosafety procedures (3278; 80.98%) used as an efficient form of COVID-19 transmission prevention. Country region, performance of social distancing, dental specialty, the use of personal protective equipment, and biosafety preventive measures influenced the likelihood of dentists to perform dental treatment, either elective or urgent, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The need of extra preventive barriers for dental treatment may bring an extra financial stress in the Brazilian public primary and secondary health care system, as well as in the patient-dentist relationship, which may have to be reframed. Internationally accepted public guideline policies regarding dental treatment safety, as well as the technological development of preventive tools, are needed to deal with the challenges brought by COVID-19.
调查巴西公共初级和中级卫生保健牙医在冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行期间的知识和实践情况。
使用了一份带有社会人口统计学和 COVID-19 知识问题的在线问卷。
共调查了在巴西公共初级和中级卫生保健系统工作的 4048 名牙医；4024 名（99.41%）认为 COVID-19 可以通过牙科手术传播。这些牙医对 COVID-19 症状的知识水平相当（6.00 分中得 3.76±1.27 分），对个人防护设备（3382 名；83.55%）和生物安全程序（3278 名；80.98%）的怀疑也相当，这些措施被认为是预防 COVID-19 传播的有效形式。国家地区、社会距离的执行情况、牙科专业、个人防护设备的使用以及生物安全预防措施影响了牙医在 COVID-19 大流行期间进行牙科治疗（选择性或紧急性）的可能性。
对于牙科治疗可能需要额外的预防措施，这可能会给巴西公共初级和中级卫生保健系统以及医患关系带来额外的经济压力，这可能需要重新考虑。需要制定国际上认可的关于牙科治疗安全性的公共指南政策，以及预防性工具的技术发展，以应对 COVID-19 带来的挑战。
