Impact of COVID-19 on Dental Emergency Services in Cluj-Napoca Metropolitan Area: A Cross-Sectional Study

Nausica Bianca Petrescu, Ovidiu Aghiorghiesei, Anca Stefania Mesaros, Ondine Patricia Lucaciu, Cristian Mihail Dinu, Radu Septimiu Campian and Marius Negucioiu
Additional contact information
Nausica Bianca Petrescu: Department of Oral Health, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Iuliu Hatieganu”, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Ovidiu Aghiorghiesei: Department of Oral Health, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Iuliu Hatieganu”, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Anca Stefania Mesaros: Department of Dental Propaedeutic, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Iuliu Hatieganu”, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Ondine Patricia Lucaciu: Department of Oral Health, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Iuliu Hatieganu”, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Cristian Mihail Dinu: Department of Maxillofacial Surgery and Implantology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Iuliu Hatieganu”, 400029 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Radu Septimiu Campian: Department of Oral Health, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Iuliu Hatieganu”, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Marius Negucioiu: Department of Prosthetic Dentistry, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Iuliu Hatieganu”, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 21, 1-11

Abstract: This study aimed to assess dental care needs in Cluj region during the State of Emergency, declared due to the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to the same period of the year 2019. A descriptive retrospective analysis was conducted, which retrieved patients seeking emergency dental services at the Emergency Department of County General Hospital and “Iuliu Ha?ieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, the only dental service available in April 2020. Recorded data cover the month of April 2020 and is compared with the same period of 2019. During April 2020, 724 patients received dental care, whereas only 160 patients were treated in April 2019 in the same facility. The number of patients with acute apical periodontitis, abscess, and acute pulpitis was significantly higher in 2020. The percentage of patients receiving sedative filling for the treatment of acute pulpitis in 2020 was significantly higher than in 2019, while the proportion of patients receiving pulpectomy was higher in 2019. The percentage of patients receiving endodontic drainage for the treatment of acute periapical periodontitis in 2020 was higher. This study demonstrates that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the use of medical care services and could further impact the oral health and quality of life of patients.

Keywords: COVID-19; emergency dental services; SARS-CoV-2; epidemiology; public health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/21/7716/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/21/7716/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:21:p:7716-:d:432972

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().