Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on urgent dental care delivery in a Swiss university center for dental medicine

• Published in: Clinical oral investigations 2021-10, Vol.25 (10), p.5711-5721
• Main Authors: Eggmann, Florin, Haschemi, Asin Ahmad, Doukoudis, Dimitrios, Filippi, Andreas, Verna, Carlalberta, Walter, Clemens, Weiger, Roland, Zitzmann, Nicola U., Bornstein, Michael M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abscesses; Alveoli; Communicable Disease Control; Complications; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Dental Care; Dentistry; Humans; Medicine; Original; Original Article; Orthodontics; Pandemics; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Patients; Radiography; Regression analysis; Retrospective Studies; Statistical analysis; Switzerland - epidemiology; Universities
• ISSN: 1432-6981; 1436-3771
• DOI: 10.1007/s00784-021-03872-1

Objectives This study aimed to assess whether the emergency service of a major Swiss dental institution faced different demands (patient volume, treatment needs, dental care characteristics) during a lockdown, issued to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic, compared with the weeks before and after. Materials and methods Data of patients receiving urgent care at a university center for dental medicine (Basel, Switzerland) during the 6-week lockdown, pre-lockdown, and post-lockdown periods were retrospectively evaluated. Statistical analysis involved tests for equal proportions and logistic regression models. The level of significance was set at α =0.05. Results The study comprised 3109 dental emergency visits in the period from February 2 to June 5, 2020. Daily caseloads increased during lockdown. Abscesses, orthodontic emergencies, and surgical follow-ups were more common during lockdown, whereas the number of dento-alveolar injuries declined (≤0.048). Urgent dental care provision involved intraoral radiographs more frequently in the pre-lockdown period compared with the following weeks ( p