ABSTRACT
Introduction: The outbreak of the Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has a major impact on health care professionals, especially the dental care professionals, who are operating in close contact with their patients. Aim: To assess the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on dental practitioners in Saudi Arabia in terms of mental status, dental practice changes and financial status. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted among dental practitioners working in governmental and private sectors in Saudi Arabia from June to August 2020. The data was collected using a self-admistered questionnaire which included demographic data, the participants' mental status with a focus on fear and anxiety, changes that occurred on the dental practice due to the pandemic in addition to its impact on the financial status and income. The data was entered and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0. Descriptive statistics was calculated and Chi-square analysis was done. Results: A total of 156 subjects (95 (60.9%) male and 61 (39.1%) were female) participated in this study. Most of the respondents 122 (78.2%) were concerned about transmitting the infection to people around them, 149 (95.5%) planned to implement face shields in their practice among other practice changes, 104 (66.7%) expressed concern regarding the impact of the pandemic on their future income. Majority of consultants consider that COVID-19 pandemic "negatively affected" their income which was statistically significant (p=0.028). Similarly, majority of participants private sector also considered that COVID-19 pandemic "negatively affected/positively affected" their income which was statistically significant (p=0.001). Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, dental practitioners are more affected than other health providers. This is evident by the fear and anxiety, which they are going through and the negative impact of the pandemic, which included drop in their income and limited clinical practice hours due to the deferral of elective treatment.
ABSTRACT
Background Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is a life-threatening global pandemic. The dental profession is considered a high-risk group in the transmission of the responsible virus. Objective To assess the knowledge and attitude among dental professionals in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study of dental graduates, interns, postgraduates, and dental faculty from May to July 2020. A standardized questionnaire was developed to assess knowledge and attitude of 650 participants. The questionnaire comprised 14 questions to assess general knowledge about COVID-19, 11 questions regarding knowledge about prevention of COVID-19 in dental practice, and 10 questions regarding the attitude toward preventing COVID-19. Results Among the study population, only 376 (57.8%) knew the causative virus for COVID-19. Only 425 (65.3%) knew about rinsing the mouth with an antimicrobial solution or 1% hydrogen peroxide before the dental procedure. Regarding the hand hygiene guidelines, 357 (54.9%) had knowledge of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and 377 (58.0%) about World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. At the time of our survey, 72% of the participants showed sufficient knowledge, while 28% had low or insufficient knowledge about COVID-19. Conclusion While there was a lack of knowledge among dental professionals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia about COVID-19, there was an excellent positive attitude toward preventing disease. Greater awareness is needed to control the spread of this disease.
ABSTRACT
The epidemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), originating in Wuhan, China, has become a major public health challenge. According to WHO, “It is possible to halt the virus spread, by adopting measures to detect disease early, isolate and treat the cases, tracing the people who came in contact with those who are infected, wearing gloves and masks, limitation of people going outside their home and promote social distancing measures.” Due to the characteristics of dental settings, the risk of cross infection can be high between patients and dental practitioners and can spread from patient to patient.As part of its efforts to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 pandemicthe American Dental Association (ADA) provided essential guidance on (i) emergency vs. nonemergency dental care and (ii) the use of teledentistry. In response to the current health crisis, teledentistry is emerging as a viable care option in an effort to help “flatten the curve” of the COVID-19 pandemic.During the COVID-19 outbreak, teledentistry is an effective way to triage patients and conduct problem-focused evaluations in order to limit office visits to patients needing urgent or emergency care. This article, based on relevant guidelines and research, introduces the essential knowledge about COVID-19, and focuses on how teledentistry can be helpful in preventing dental emergencies by providing effective dental care to patients during quarantine, and also educate and motivate people to opt necessary dental hygiene measures.