The impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on the utilization of emergency dental services

TLDR

The COVID‑19 epidemic has strongly influenced the utilization of emergency dental services. The study aimed to assess how the COVID‑19 epidemic affected people’s use of emergency dental services in Beijing, China. Researchers retrieved first‑visit emergency dental patients before and at the start of the epidemic, recorded their demographics and reasons for visiting, and analyzed 2,537 cases. During the early epidemic, 38% fewer patients sought emergency dental care, the proportion of infections rose from 51.0% to 71.9%, trauma cases fell from 14.2% to 10.5%, and non‑urgency visits dropped to one‑third of pre‑epidemic levels.

Abstract

To assess how the current COVID-19 epidemic influenced peoples' utilization of emergency dental services in Beijing, China.The first-visit patients seeking emergency dental services before or at the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic were retrieved. Their demographic characteristics and the reasons for visiting were recorded and analyzed.There were 2,537 patients involved in this study. Thirty-eight percent fewer patients visited the dental urgency at the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic than before. The distribution of dental problems has changed significantly. The proportion of dental and oral infection raised from 51.0% of pre-COVID-19 to 71.9% during COVID-19, and dental trauma decreased from 14.2% to 10.5%. Meanwhile, the non-urgency cases reduced to three-tenths of pre-COVID-19.Within the limitation of this study, the COVID-19 epidemic had a strong influence on the utilization of emergency dental services.