Assessment of oral emergency services during COVID-19: a retrospective study of 14,885 cases in Shanghai

BACKGROUND: To assess the impact of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) in its outbreak stage (Spring Festival in 2020) on oral emergency services. METHODS: Oral emergency cases in Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, during the Spring Festival after the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020 were collected and compared with those in 2018 and 2019. Electronic medical records including the visited department, age, sex, time, date, region, and diagnosis were collected and analyzed. The results were statistically analyzed using Pearson’s Chi-square test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). RESULTS: Compared with that in 2018 and 2019, the total number of patients decreased during the Spring Festival in 2020 (p < 0.001), but the proportions of patients visiting Oral Surgery and Oral, Head, and Neck Oncology Emergency departments increased. The average age of patients increased, and the number of night visits decreased. Toothache diseases involving endodontic and periodontal diseases increased, while the proportion of maxillofacial trauma decreased. The wasn’t a linear association between diagnosis or genders (P > 0.001) across years. However, a linear-by-linear association between age groups and years, visited departments and years were observed (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The study revealed that the transmission of COVID-19 affected the patient population and structure of disease types and oral services in 2020 during the Spring Festival, compared with those in the previous two years. The visits to oral emergency departments and the proportions of patients who were children and adolescents reduced; meanwhile, the percentage of the elderly people increased during the outbreak of COVID-19. The clear trend of age groups and visiting divisions could be used as a marker to reflect the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic. These results may serve as a reference for dental practitioners involved in oral emergency services and to allocate the limited emergency health resources.