Assessing Sars-CoV-2 Infection Rate among Romanian Dental Practitioners

Bibliographic Data

ID15481876
AuthorsOndine Lucaciu (0000-0002-0092-8955, Iuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy), Antonia Boca (0000-0002-2632-9707, Iuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, corresponding author), Anca Mesaroș (0000-0001-5439-7830, Iuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy), Nausica Bianca Petrescu (0000-0003-3450-1068, Iuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy), Ovidiu Aghiorghiesei (0000-0001-8114-6201, Iuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy), Ioana Codruța Mirică (Iuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy), Ioan Hosu (Babeș-Bolyai University), Gabriel Armencea (0000-0003-1087-8522, Iuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy), Simion Bran (0000-0003-2632-4284, Iuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy), Cristian Dinu (0000-0002-1073-9402, Iuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy), Cristian Mihail Dinu (Department of Maxillofacial Surgery and Implantology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Iuliu Hatieganu”, 400029 Cluj-Napoca, Romania)
Year2021
Volume18
Issue9
Pages4897-4897
Publication date2021-05-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1661-7827 • E-ISSN: 1660-4601
PublisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3390/ijerph18094897
PMID34064469
OpenAlexW3159342563
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited24

Due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on dental treatments, the present research aimed to assess the infection rate among dental practitioners from Romania and to analyze the economic impact of Covid-19 on dental offices. We designed a web-based survey distributed to dental practitioners from Romania. The survey included questions that assessed demographic data from the dentists who completed the questionnaire, along with economic aspects and epidemiological aspects related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on dental practitioners. Five hundred and seven dentists completed the survey. Three-quarters of the assessed dental offices reported a decrease in the income and patient volume compared to 2019. More than half of the patients visiting the dental office paid more attention to the risk of infection and to prevention methods. Most dental offices implemented specific protective equipment for doctors. Three thousand seven hundred thirty-five dental practitioners were working in the 507 assessed dental offices, and among them, 238 COVID-19 cases of contamination were recorded. High contamination rates were registered in October (48, 20.1%), November (66, 27.7%), and December 2020 (52, 21.85%). Contamination mostly took place at home (114 cases, 47.8%) or resulted from event attendance. This study underlines an overall greater level of safety and an increased patient addressability in dental offices

Attendance · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Dental care · Environmental health · Family medicine · Medical emergency · Pandemic · COVID-19 diagnosis using AI · Dental Research and COVID-19 · Dentistry · Medicine · Scientific and Engineering Research Topics · Epidemiology

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