Department of Prosthetic Dentistry, Dental Division, Medical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Department of Prosthetic Dentistry, University Dental Clinic, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Clin Exp Dent Res. 2021 Jun;7(3):271-278. doi: 10.1002/cre2.383. Epub 2020 Dec 29.
This paper aims to report and discuss the organization and statistics of dental care during the COVID-19 epidemics on the national level in Slovenia, providing helpful information to health policy planners worldwide.
During an eight-week lockdown, Emergency Dental Centers (EDCs) were established and coordinated on the national level to treat patients' urgent dental conditions. Telemedicine was used on the first level of triage to reduce contacts between healthcare workers and patients. Weekly coordination between EDCs was supported by real-time data acquisition on the number of patient visits, prescribed medicine, the number and type of dental procedures, and the usage of personal protective equipment (PPE).
In EDCs, 27,468 patients were serviced, on average 235 patients per day/million people. The care was provided by 4798 man days of dental health care workers. Except for the first week, treatment and triage visits showed a slight increase. The number of incisions was nearly constant, while the number of extractions increased. A nearly threefold increase was found for emergency endodontic treatments (EET). The number of antibiotic prescriptions demonstrated an increasing trend. Analgesic prescriptions showed a decreasing trend from the beginning of lockdown.
The reorganization and centralization of dental care proved to be an efficient model in Slovenia for the provision of urgent dental care, and the management of the healthcare workforce and PPE. Data from this study may provide helpful information for planning the needs and corresponding resources for the next waves of epidemics of COVID-19.
本文旨在报告和讨论 COVID-19 疫情期间斯洛文尼亚全国范围内的牙科护理组织和统计情况，为全球卫生政策规划者提供有益信息。
在为期八周的封锁期间，成立了紧急牙科中心（EDC）并在国家层面进行协调，以治疗患者的紧急牙科状况。在分诊的第一级使用远程医疗以减少医护人员与患者之间的接触。每周对 EDC 进行协调，同时实时获取就诊人数、开处药物、牙科治疗程序的数量和类型以及个人防护设备（PPE）使用情况的数据。
在 EDC 中，共为 27468 名患者提供服务，平均每天每百万人有 235 名患者。这项护理工作由 4798 名牙科保健工作者的人日提供。除了第一周外，治疗和分诊就诊人数略有增加。切口数量基本保持不变，而拔牙数量有所增加。急诊牙髓治疗（EET）的数量增加了近两倍。抗生素处方的数量呈上升趋势。从封锁开始，止痛处方的数量呈下降趋势。
牙科护理的重组和集中在斯洛文尼亚为提供紧急牙科护理以及管理医疗保健劳动力和 PPE 提供了一种有效的模式。本研究的数据可能为规划应对 COVID-19 疫情下一波疫情的需求和相应资源提供有益信息。
