COVID-19 Salgınının Acil ve Kaçınılmaz Dental Başvurular Üzerindeki Etkileri

Abstract

Objective: To compare patients' demographic characteristics and their reasons for visiting 2 months prior to and after the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. Material and Methods: An electronic search of the Hacettepe University Faculty of Dentistry was undertaken to identify patients treated at Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery between 16 January 2020 and 16 May 2020. The patients' ages and genders, the procedures performed, the number of procedures performed, and their days of application were recorded. Results: In total, 3,384 patients were evaluated. The mean age was 35.6 years, and the female male ratio was 1.27. Of the 3,384 patients, 86.3% were treated 2 months prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, while 13.7% were treated 2 months after the COVID-19 outbreak. Consultations (55.8%) were the most common reason for visiting, followed by tooth extraction (40.1%) and impacted tooth extraction (1.5%) after the COVID-19 outbreak. The frequency of dentoalveolar surgical procedures decreased after the COVID-19 outbreak, but the rate of maxillofacial infection significantly increased (p=0.011). The number of tooth extractions per patient increased daily in the 2 months after the COVID-19 outbreak, with the difference within days found to be statistically significant (p=0.000). The rate of multiple procedures performed on a patient decreased to 9.5% during the COVID-19 outbreak. Conclusion: The results of the present study show that even if the number of patients treated after the COVID-19 outbreak decreased, there was an increase in the number and disease severity of patients presenting with maxillofacial infection.