Vuković, Ana; Mandić-Rajčević, Stefan; Sava-Rosianu, Ruxandra; Betancourt, Marcela D; Xhajanka, Edit; Hysenaj, Neada; Bajric, Elmedin; Zukanović, Amila; Philippides, Vrassidas; Zosimas, Marios; Nikolaos, Maroufidis; Vlahović, Zoran; Denkovski, Marijan; Peric, Tamara; Markovic, Dejan; Campus, Guglielmo (2021). Pediatric Dentists’ Service Provisions in South-East Europe during the First Wave of COVID-19 Epidemic: Lessons Learned about Preventive Measures and Personal Protective Equipment Use. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(22), p. 11795. MDPI 10.3390/ijerph182211795
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Having in mind the importance of providing continuous pediatric dental
services during the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that children have similar viral loads to adults, the potential to spread the virus to others, and with variable clinical presentation of COVID-19 infection, this study aimed to analyze the impact of COVID-19 outbreak on pediatric dentistry service provision, risks, and preventive measures before and during dental treatment.
Method: Structured and closed epidemiological cross-sectional survey involved seven Southeastern European countries.
The questionnaire was developed using the modified Delphi method, pretested, and tested in North Italy during April 2020. The sample consisted of licensed dental professionals reached via national dental chambers and social media using the best strategies according to the national setting.
Results: A total of 3227 dentists participated in the survey, and we included 643 specialists in this study—among them, 164 were pediatric dentists. Most pediatric dentists worked in the public sector (61.0%) and provided emergency (64.6%) and routine dental treatment (18.3%) during the outbreak. One-third of pediatric dentists were COVID-19 tested, statistically significantly more than other specialties, and 3.0% tested COVID-19 positive. In addition, significantly more pediatric dentists (13.4%) reported the presence of at least one symptom related to COVID-19 compared to other specialists (6.1%). None of the pediatric dentists reported PPE shortage. However, 26.2% of all specialists stated that they
lacked clear step by step professional guidance in a national language. Similarly, in both groups, around 10% of specialists attended education on coronavirus. Conclusions: Considering that most pediatric dentists provided dental treatment during lockdown in their countries in public health centers and that they will continue to work during pandemic, our results suggest that pediatric
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Original Article) |
|---|---|
Division/Institute: |
04 Faculty of Medicine > School of Dental Medicine > Department of Preventive, Restorative and Pediatric Dentistry |
UniBE Contributor: |
Betancourt, Marcela, Campus, Guglielmo Giuseppe |
Subjects: |
600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health |
ISSN: |
1660-4601 |
Publisher: |
MDPI |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Gilda Marcela Diaz Betancourt |
Date Deposited: |
11 Nov 2021 15:20 |
Last Modified: |
05 Dec 2022 15:54 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.3390/ijerph182211795 |
BORIS DOI: |
10.48350/160897 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/160897 |
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