Panorama of Orthodontics after COVID-19: A critical literature review

Andressa Cavalcanti Pires,Smyrna Luiza Ximenes De Souza,Alessandro Leite Cavalcanti

doi:10.33448/rsd-v9i9.8103

Andressa Cavalcanti Pires, Smyrna Luiza Ximenes De Souza + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i9.8103

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Abstract

A new Coronavirus (2019-nCov, renamed SARS-CoV-2) was identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, and was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, on March 11, 2020. As it is a highly infectious disease, major regional and national changes have been made, social isolation was recommended, which led to the interruption of various services, including elective dental treatments. This review aimed to identify the changes that occurred in the post-COVID-19 orthodontic practice scenario. For such, a search was made for articles published in the bibliographic bases PubMed, Scopus and SciELO, using the keywords “Orthodontics” and “Covid-19”. From the eligibility criteria, 11 articles were selected for analysis. It was found that social isolation impacted the scheduling of orthodontic appointments and patient’s anxiety about the duration of treatments. The use of teleodontology proved to be an ally in screening and in patient care. Preventive infection control must be adopted for safe orthodontic practice.

Highlights

Due to the identification of a high number of cases involving a new Coronavirus in the Chinese city of Wuhan (Zhu et al, 2020) (2019-nCov, renamed SARS-CoV-2) (Gorbalenya et al, 2020; WHO, 2020), a pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020 (WHO, 2020)
With the postponement of orthodontic consultations, the concern with the prolongation of the treatment arose among patients (Peloso et al, 2020), as well as anxiety about scheduling the visit to the orthodontist (Cotrin et al, 2020), as social isolation became a regulation adopted by several countries (Xiong et al, 2020)
Considering the importance of information about the current situation, this study aimed to identify the changes that occurred in the post-COVID-19 orthodontic practice scenario

Summary

Introduction

Due to the identification of a high number of cases involving a new Coronavirus in the Chinese city of Wuhan (Zhu et al, 2020) (2019-nCov, renamed SARS-CoV-2) (Gorbalenya et al, 2020; WHO, 2020), a pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020 (WHO, 2020). Without the possibility of face-to-face consultations, professionals and patients undergoing orthodontic treatment had the opportunity to use technology to offer and receive virtual assistance, using photo, video or video-call applications, allowing the orthodontist to evaluate the need to be seen at the office (Sunjay Suri et al, 2020; Martina et al, 2020). These technological communication tools, aside from keeping the patient-professional relationship active, decrease anxiety, since there is no risk of contamination, contrary to what happens during face-to-face care (Cotrin et al, 2020)

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