Dental emergency care in Spain during the state of alarm due to COVID-19 pandemic

• Nuria Escribano ^[1] ; Isabel Giráldez ^[1] ; Laura Ceballos ^[2] ; Fátima Cerdán ^[3] ; Raquel Infante ^[4] ; María-Victoria Fuentes ^[5]
  1. [1] PhD, DDS, Assistant Professor, IDIBO Research Group, Health Sciences Faculty, University Rey Juan Carlos, Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain
  2. [2] PhD, DDS, Professor, IDIBO Research Group, Health Sciences Faculty, University Rey Juan Carlos, Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain
  3. [3] DDS. PhD Degree Student, Health Sciences Faculty, University Rey Juan Carlos, Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain
  4. [4] PhD Candidate, Private Dental Practice, Madrid, Spain
  5. [5] PhD, DDS, Associate Professor, IDIBO Research Group, Health Sciences Faculty, University Rey Juan Carlos, Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain

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• Localización: Journal of Clinical and Experimental Dentistry, ISSN-e 1989-5488, Vol. 13, Nº. 9 (September), 2021, págs. 859-865
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The first state of alarm due to COVID-19 in Spain led to limit dental treatment exclusively to emergencies. The objective of the survey was to evaluate the amount and type of emergencies attended during this period, as well as to know how they were solved, and what measures were adopted to carry out dental care in these exceptional circumstances.

    This cross-sectional study included 312 Spanish dentists, who fulfilled an online questionnaire with 22 closed questions, divided into five sections regarding to various aspects of professional dental profile and emergency care. Descriptive statistic and Chi-square tests were performed (p<0.05).

    75.64% of respondents attended emergencies in person only when required, being dental pain the main emergency (90.38%). Dental emergency care in person involved a prior telephone triage of the patient to identify possible COVID-19 symptoms, as well as protective measures implementation for both, the patient and the dentist, at dental office.

    The number of dental emergencies decreased during the state of alarm, being dental pain the main cause of dental assistance via telephone or in person. Triage of patients before scheduling an in-person appointment and protective measures implementation were common features in dental emergency care during the first state of alarm period.