Abstract
This study aimed to assess dental care needs in Cluj region during the State of Emergency, declared due to the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to the same period of the year 2019. A descriptive retrospective analysis was conducted, which retrieved patients seeking emergency dental services at the Emergency Department of County General Hospital and “Iuliu Hațieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, the only dental service available in April 2020. Recorded data cover the month of April 2020 and is compared with the same period of 2019. During April 2020, 724 patients received dental care, whereas only 160 patients were treated in April 2019 in the same facility. The number of patients with acute apical periodontitis, abscess, and acute pulpitis was significantly higher in 2020. The percentage of patients receiving sedative filling for the treatment of acute pulpitis in 2020 was significantly higher than in 2019, while the proportion of patients receiving pulpectomy was higher in 2019. The percentage of patients receiving endodontic drainage for the treatment of acute periapical periodontitis in 2020 was higher. This study demonstrates that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the use of medical care services and could further impact the oral health and quality of life of patients.
Highlights
Since December 2019, various changes took place worldwide, due to COVID-19
The percentage of patients receiving sedative filling for the treatment of acute pulpitis in 2020 was significantly higher than that in 2019 (X2 = 23.421, p < 0.0001), while the proportion of patients receiving pulpectomy was higher in 2019 (X2 = 88.9291, p < 0.0001)
Assessing dental pathology correlated to gender, the results of our study indicate higher percentages of acute pulpitis, acute apical periodontitis, and abscess in males, whereas female patients were diagnosed with pericoronitis, temporomandibular dislocation, and caries
Summary
Since December 2019, various changes took place worldwide, due to COVID-19. It is known thatCOVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the virus: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) [1].After SARS-CoV-2 occurrence in Wuhan, China [2], until present times, COVID-19 has spread globally, causing more than 868,422 of deaths. Since December 2019, various changes took place worldwide, due to COVID-19. COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the virus: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) [1]. After SARS-CoV-2 occurrence in Wuhan, China [2], until present times, COVID-19 has spread globally, causing more than 868,422 of deaths. More than 26,238,508 people tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and the number of people affected by the disease is ever increasing [3]. On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the COVID-19 situation can qualify as a global pandemic because of its fast spread worldwide [4]. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 7716; doi:10.3390/ijerph17217716 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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