Department of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 10 Piața 1 Decembrie Street, 410073 Oradea, Romania.
Department of Preclinical Disciplines, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 10 Piața 1 Decembrie Street, 410073 Oradea, Romania.
Medicina (Kaunas). 2022 Mar 6;58(3):393. doi: 10.3390/medicina58030393.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to restrictive measures, which aimed to limit the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. These restrictions impacted all areas of life, including the activity of dental offices. For patients with orthodontic appliances, closing the dental offices was a major issue, as most orthodontic treatments last for more than a year and require regular checkups. The aim of this research was to assess the impact that the restrictive measures that were imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and, especially, wearing a face mask had on a sample of Romanian teenagers undergoing fixed orthodontic treatment. The study group consisted of 277 orthodontic patients, with ages between 12 and 17.9 years, from North-Western Romania. They completed a 9-item questionnaire. The control group consisted of 231 participants, with ages between 12 and 17.9 years. They completed an 8-item questionnaire. Most patients from the study group were not worried that wearing a protective face mask would hide their braces (never-49.5%; rarely-26.7%), and their desire to undergo an orthodontic treatment was not affected by the compulsoriness of face mask wearing (never-51.6%; rarely-26%). In contrast to that, in the control group, more than 50% of the participants were worried to some degree that wearing a protective face mask would hide their smile (occasionally-29.9%; frequently-18.2%; very frequently-2.2%). The majority of the participants from the study group did not consider interrupting the orthodontic treatment due to the COVID-19 pandemic (62.5%), and the majority of the participants from the control group did not consider not going to the dentist due to the COVID-19 pandemic (70.6%). Most of the participants from the study group were not happy that they had to wear a face mask, which covered their orthodontic appliances, during the orthodontic treatment (68.6%). The attitude was similar to that of the participants from the control group, who were not happy that they had to wear a face mask, that covered their smile (51.1%). In the study group, most patients did not want face mask wearing to continue to be compulsory, given the fact that their orthodontic appliances were no longer visible (52%). In the control group, the attitude was similar, with 48.1% of the participants not wanting face mask compulsoriness to be maintained. : In conclusion, although, most patients would not like to continue wearing a face mask as a mandatory regulation, they were not concerned or negatively affected by wearing a protective face mask, even though face masks hid their braces.
新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情（COVID-19）大流行导致了限制性措施的实施，这些措施旨在限制 SARS-CoV-2 病毒的传播。这些限制措施影响了生活的各个方面，包括牙科诊所的活动。对于佩戴正畸矫治器的患者来说，关闭牙科诊所是一个主要问题，因为大多数正畸治疗需要一年以上的时间，并且需要定期检查。本研究的目的是评估在 COVID-19 大流行期间实施的限制措施，特别是佩戴口罩对罗马尼亚青少年固定正畸治疗样本的影响。
研究组由来自罗马尼亚西北部的 277 名年龄在 12 至 17.9 岁之间的正畸患者组成。他们完成了 9 项问卷调查。对照组由 231 名年龄在 12 至 17.9 岁之间的参与者组成。他们完成了 8 项问卷调查。
研究组的大多数患者并不担心佩戴防护口罩会掩盖他们的牙套（从不-49.5%；很少-26.7%），并且他们进行正畸治疗的愿望不受佩戴口罩的强制性影响（从不-51.6%；很少-26%）。相比之下，对照组中有超过 50%的参与者担心佩戴防护口罩会在某种程度上掩盖他们的笑容（偶尔-29.9%；经常-18.2%；非常经常-2.2%）。研究组的大多数参与者并不认为由于 COVID-19 大流行而中断正畸治疗（62.5%），而对照组的大多数参与者并不认为由于 COVID-19 大流行而不去看牙医（70.6%）。研究组的大多数参与者并不高兴在正畸治疗期间不得不佩戴覆盖正畸矫治器的口罩（68.6%）。这种态度与对照组的参与者相似，他们不喜欢佩戴口罩，因为口罩遮住了他们的笑容（51.1%）。在研究组中，大多数患者不希望口罩佩戴继续成为强制性规定，因为他们的正畸矫治器不再可见（52%）。在对照组中，态度类似，有 48.1%的参与者不希望继续保持口罩强制性规定。
总之，尽管大多数患者不希望继续将佩戴口罩作为强制性规定，但他们并不担心或受到佩戴防护口罩的负面影响，即使口罩遮住了他们的牙套。
