The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on dental services: the case of Greece. Observational study in a tertiary hospital

Adramerinas Marios1, Tilaveridis Ioannis2, Venetis Grigorios3, Stefanidis Stefanos4
 
1,2,3 Laboratory of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki 4 Dental Department, General Hospital of Thessaloniki “Agios Demetrios”
​
DOI: 10.54936/haoms264356

SUMMARY: Background: Great disruptions in dental care services were recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic in many countries. The aim of this study was to assess the level of disruption of dental care services in Greece during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: An observational study was carried out in the dental department of “Agios Dimitrios” general hospi- tal of Thessaloniki, Greece. Patient visits were divided among three categories: 1) outpatient visits, 2) emergen- cy visits, 3) general anesthesia visits. For all three catego- ries, the incidence rate (IR) before and after the break- out of the pandemic was calculated and compared. A 5-year reference period (26/2/2015-25/2/2020) against a 2-year pandemic period (26/2/2020-25/2/2022) were used. Poisson and Negative Binomial Regressions were used to calculate the incidence rate ratio (IRR) and com- pare the IR in each category. The Chi-square test was used for categorical variables.
Results: Statistically significant reductions for all visit cat- egories were observed along with statistically significant changes in the distribution of the visits among the three categories.
Conclusions: Significant disruptions in the dental care services of the department were observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The major causes of these long- lasting disruptions are attributable to the adaptations in the operation of the hospital during the pandemic in addition to preexisting health system issues that have been exacerbated by the pandemic.
 
KEY WORDS: COVID-19 Pandemic, Dental Health Services, Hospital Dental Service, Healthcare Inequali- ties, Dentistry for Disabled

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