Medical-Surgical Dentistry Research Group (OMEQUI), Health Research Institute of Santiago de Compostela (IDIS), University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
School of Dental Sciences, Trinity College Dublin & Dublin Dental University Hospital, Dublin D02 F859, Ireland.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Mar 14;18(6):2970. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18062970.
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 ( < 0.001), and respondents from North America were more likely to do so than participants from other geographical regions ( < 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 ( < 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.
本研究旨在探讨 COVID-19 对全球特殊护理牙科提供者体验的影响。我们于 2020 年 7 月 10 日至 31 日进行了一项在线调查。记录了所有参与牙医的年龄、性别、专业活动年限、COVID-19 状况、原籍地理区域和封锁期长度。分析了这些变量与临床活动变化、治疗患者 COVID-19 状况以及在牙科诊所实施保护措施之间的关系。共有来自 59 个国家的 436 名（70.6%为女性）牙医对调查做出了回应。79.1%的受访者的临床活动减少或停止。最常见的变化是将治疗仅限于紧急护理（53.7%）。大多数受访者停止（51.0%）或减少（35.8%）了全身麻醉或深度镇静下的治疗。男性牙医比女性牙医更有可能维持其临床活动（<0.001），来自北美的受访者比来自其他地理区域的参与者更有可能这样做（<0.001）。来自拉丁美洲和加勒比地区的牙医比来自欧洲的牙医更有可能报告治疗 COVID-19 确诊病例（<0.001）。牙科诊所中保护措施的实施取决于调查参与者的性别、临床活动强度和原籍地理区域。总之，由于大流行，特殊护理牙科的提供大大减少。服务维持主要与接受调查的牙医工作的地理区域有关，进一步加剧了先前存在的不平等。
