The Impact of COVID-19 on Dentistry in Yichang, China and Protective Suggestions for Normalization of Epidemic Prevention

Zhao, Suli; Sun, Rongcan; Yu, Huaizhou; Cao, Jing; Zhang, Lin

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 has been defined as a pandemic by WHO since March 2020, and affects all aspects of people's lives, including people's oral diagnosis and treatment process. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this article is to explore the impact of COVID-19 on the daily operations of the stomatology department, and provide some help for dental healthcare personnel around the world in continuing to provide exemplary care while limiting the spread of COVID-19. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective analyses were performed on dental patients’ medical records from the stomatology department of the First People's Hospital of Yichang, China, which were collected from pre-epidemic, epidemic, and post-epidemic periods respectively. Hospital-wide triage and stomatology department-specific protocols were taken in our hospital to prevent cross-infection during the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: The number of patients decreased and proportion of emergency cases increased during the epidemic period. With prevention protocols in place, the number of dental patients was back to normal range with a slight elevation during the post-epidemic period. Thus far, there has not been a single documented case of COVID-19 related to dental treatments reported in our hospital. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 has a major impact on people's habits of seeking dentalcare services. Effective prevention and control measures including three levels of protection, zoning, instrumentation, and environmental disinfection are much needed for dental settings to provide care.