Abstract
BackgroundThe present study aimed to investigate the patients’ perception of the dental practice during the COVID-19 outbreak, and whether the pandemic will affect the attendance of orthodontic patients at the dental practice. An online questionnaire, including the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4), was submitted to Italian dental patients with items about their perceived risks when going to the dentist, concerns about continuing orthodontic treatment, and the onset of temporomandibular disorders (TMD). Data were analyzed with a chi-square test and logistic regression analysis. The level of significance was set at P < 0.05.ResultsA total of 1566 subjects completed the survey, including 486 who were under orthodontic treatment or who had a child in orthodontic treatment. A total of 866 participants (55.3%) thought the risk of contracting the COVID-19 infection was higher in a dental practice; this perception was associated with gender (women more than man), age (over 60 years old) and high levels of distress (P<0.001). However, 894 patients (57.1%) felt comfortable going back to the dentist. Most of the orthodontic patients (84%) would continue their treatment. After the lockdown, there was a slight increase in the frequency of TMD pain (356 versus 334).ConclusionsMost of the participants believed that the dental practice is a place at greater risk of contracting COVID-19, even if they continue to go to the dentist. Gender, age, and the level of distress were associated with the increase in the fear of going to the dentist due to COVID-19. Because of the pandemic, 16% of patients undergoing orthodontic treatment would not return to the dental practice to continue their orthodontic treatment after the lockdown. The prevalence of TMD pain in the population increased due to the pandemic.
Highlights
The present study aimed to investigate the patients’ perception of the dental practice during the COVID-19 outbreak, and whether the pandemic will affect the attendance of orthodontic patients at the dental practice
The questionnaire was comprised of 21 multiple-choice questions: 5 questions were about personal data, 3 were about the anxiety over going to the dentist, 4 were about the presence of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) symptoms, and 5 were about orthodontic treatment and the perception of the risk of continuing orthodontic treatment
A total of 866 patients (55.3%) believed that there is a greater risk of contracting COVID-19 at a dental practice, but 894 patients (57.1%) felt comfortable going back to the dentist (Table 2)
Summary
The present study aimed to investigate the patients’ perception of the dental practice during the COVID-19 outbreak, and whether the pandemic will affect the attendance of orthodontic patients at the dental practice. Martina et al Progress in Orthodontics (2021) 22:11 transmissibility rate (higher than that of SARS) [7] because a high number of COVID-19-positive patients has mild or no symptoms, which makes it difficult to diagnose, so the spread of infection can occur at an accelerated rate [8]. The test has high sensitivity but moderate specificity, a long processing time, high costs, and its accuracy depends on the quality of the samples provided [10]. This often can open a gaping hole in SARS-CoV-2 prevention efforts
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