Impact of the COVID‐19 lockdown on the oral health status of paediatric dental patients in Greece

Abstract

Background Limited evidence regarding the post‐COVID‐19 dental status of paediatric patients is available, with most studies assessing only children's oral health habits. Aim To evaluate the effect of the COVID‐19 lockdown on the oral health of paediatric dental patients in Greece. Design This was a retrospective cohort study that included a questionnaire on children's oral health behavior and a clinical examination assessing dental caries and dental treatment needs using the International Caries Detection and Assessment System criteria, dmft/DMFT, and Treatment Need Index. The Wilcoxon signed‐rank test was used for a statistical comparison between questionnaire and clinical data before, during, and after the lockdown. Results A total of 102 children with a median age of 9 years were recruited from the current cohort of patients that had their last dental examination 6 months prior to the lockdown. Results from the questionnaire showed decreased brushing frequency with increased eating frequency and sugar consumption during the lockdown period (p < .001). Moreover, 16.5% had to visit the dentist for urgent care during the lockdown, 13.6% experienced dental pain, and 51.5% did not experience any dental emergencies. Clinical examination, after the lockdown, recorded significantly increased mean dmft/DMFT scores by 0.63 units in the primary dentition (p = .01) and 0.52 units in the permanent teeth (p = .002). Significantly higher treatment needs, with more carious lesions requiring extensive treatment after the lockdown, were recorded (p < .001). Conclusion The COVID‐19 lockdown negatively affected children's oral health behavior: caries prevalence increased and more complex dental treatments were required.

The Impacts of Coronavirus Disease 2019 on Pediatric Dentistry Services and Oral Health Status of the Pediatric Population: A Narrative Review

“…VI. Changed dietary habits: According to our search, there were three related articles, i.e., Campagnaro et al (1), Angelopoulou et al (12), and Cianetti et al's (5) studies in this regard, showing that school closures and reduced physical activity led to increased time to stay at home and altered and frequent consumption of sugary foods.…”

“…Numerous studies have been conducted in the last few years in different populations and age groups, including children, since the appearance of the first COVID-19 case. Angelopoulou et al studied the impact of COVID-19 on the oral health status of Greek children in 2023 and showed the adverse effects of the pandemic on brushing frequency, sugar consumption, dental caries, and dental treatment needs (12). A study performed by Bauer et al in 2023 to reveal the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the postponement of a child's elective dental procedures showed no differences in extractions before and after the pandemic.…”

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Dental Care in Izmir Province in the West of Turkey

“…Worldwide, protocols for dental care applications were released by either scientific committees and/or governmental authority straight after the pandemic but in an empiric fashion. [7,8,9] In Turkey, with the declaration of the pandemic, Ministry of Health declared a state of emergency that the dental staff assigned to duty of filiation. Therefore, the average number of active dentists in Izmir Training Dental Hospital was decreased in 2020.…”

Trend Analysis of Pediatric Dentistry Patients at Seoul National University Dental Hospital: a Study on the Impact of the COVID-19 Outbreak

“…Furthermore, patients who answer affirmatively to any of the survey questions but have a body temperature below 37.5°C are advised to refrain from dental treatment for at least 14 days. Therefore, teledentistry has emerged as an innovative method that minimizes the risk of cross-infection, and its potential usefulness in future pandemics is recognized[56].During the lockdown, which was implemented by dental associations worldwide, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Dental Association (ADA)[57][58][59][60][61], dentists adopted teledentistry, offering regular dental care through telephone or video consultations. They assessed cases for emergency needs and provided necessary dental treatment when required[62,63].…”