Odontogenic infections: Disease burden during COVID-19 at a single institution

Johnson, Robert E.; Foy, Trayvon E.; Ellingsen, Taylor A.; Nelson, J. Luke; Dillon, Jasjit K.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to document the effect of COVID-19 on patients presenting to University of Washington Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (UW OMS) with an odontogenic infection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The investigators designed a retrospective cohort study and enrolled a sample of 889 subjects who presented for an odontogenic infection from March 19(th) to June 18(th) in the years 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. The primary predictor variable was OMS consultation for an odontogenic infection during a non-COVID-19 (2017, 2018, and 2019) year (control) or during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 (experimental). The primary outcome variable was treatment rendered. Appropriate univariate and bivariate statistics were computed, and the level of significance was set at .05 for all tests. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the incidence of OMS consults in the two cohorts (p>.05). The number of patients presenting to the UW emergency department (ED) for an odontogenic infection decreased from an average of 246 in non-COVID years to 151 in 2020. Patients in the experimental cohort were more likely (55 versus 30.0%; p=.04) to present primarily to UW than a dentist and were less likely to undergo an incision and drainage (I&D) (70.0 versus 88.8%; p=.04), aerosol generating procedure (AGP) (70.0 versus 88.8%; p=.04), and I&D in the ED (15.0 versus 41.3%; p=.03). CONCLUSION: The investigators did not find evidence of increased hospital or ED burden by odontogenic infections during the COVID-19 pandemic.