Cargando…

Pediatric Dentists’ Service Provisions in South-East Europe during the First Wave of COVID-19 Epidemic: Lessons Learned about Preventive Measures and Personal Protective Equipment Use

Introduction: Having in mind the importance of providing continuous pediatric dental services during the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that children have similar viral loads to adults, the potential to spread the virus to others, and with variable clinical presentation of COVID-19 infection, this s...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Vuković, Ana, Mandić-Rajčević, Stefan, Sava-Rosianu, Ruxandra, D Betancourt, Marcela, Xhajanka, Edit, Hysenaj, Neada, Bajric, Elmedin, Zukanović, Amila, Philippides, Vrassidas, Zosimas, Marios, Nikolaos, Maroufidis, Vlahović, Zoran, Denkovski, Marijan, Peric, Tamara, Markovic, Dejan, Campus, Guglielmo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8622949/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34831551
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182211795
_version_ 1784605814257876992
author Vuković, Ana
Mandić-Rajčević, Stefan
Sava-Rosianu, Ruxandra
D Betancourt, Marcela
Xhajanka, Edit
Hysenaj, Neada
Bajric, Elmedin
Zukanović, Amila
Philippides, Vrassidas
Zosimas, Marios
Nikolaos, Maroufidis
Vlahović, Zoran
Denkovski, Marijan
Peric, Tamara
Markovic, Dejan
Campus, Guglielmo
author_facet Vuković, Ana
Mandić-Rajčević, Stefan
Sava-Rosianu, Ruxandra
D Betancourt, Marcela
Xhajanka, Edit
Hysenaj, Neada
Bajric, Elmedin
Zukanović, Amila
Philippides, Vrassidas
Zosimas, Marios
Nikolaos, Maroufidis
Vlahović, Zoran
Denkovski, Marijan
Peric, Tamara
Markovic, Dejan
Campus, Guglielmo
author_sort Vuković, Ana
collection PubMed
description Introduction: Having in mind the importance of providing continuous pediatric dental services during the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that children have similar viral loads to adults, the potential to spread the virus to others, and with variable clinical presentation of COVID-19 infection, this study aimed to analyze the impact of COVID-19 outbreak on pediatric dentistry service provision, risks, and preventive measures before and during dental treatment. Method: Structured and closed epidemiological cross-sectional survey involved seven Southeastern European countries. The questionnaire was developed using the modified Delphi method, pretested, and tested in North Italy during April 2020. The sample consisted of licensed dental professionals reached via national dental chambers and social media using the best strategies according to the national setting. Results: A total of 3227 dentists participated in the survey, and we included 643 specialists in this study—among them, 164 were pediatric dentists. Most pediatric dentists worked in the public sector (61.0%) and provided emergency (64.6%) and routine dental treatment (18.3%) during the outbreak. One-third of pediatric dentists were COVID-19 tested, statistically significantly more than other specialties, and 3.0% tested COVID-19 positive. In addition, significantly more pediatric dentists (13.4%) reported the presence of at least one symptom related to COVID-19 compared to other specialists (6.1%). None of the pediatric dentists reported PPE shortage. However, 26.2% of all specialists stated that they lacked clear step by step professional guidance in a national language. Similarly, in both groups, around 10% of specialists attended education on coronavirus. Conclusions: Considering that most pediatric dentists provided dental treatment during lockdown in their countries in public health centers and that they will continue to work during pandemic, our results suggest that pediatric dentists might be at higher risk of COVID-19 infection. Further research should focus on finding better ways to promote and adapt preventive, protective measures and PPE in the pediatric dental setting to be behaviorally acceptable. Moreover, additional efforts should be invested in dental education regarding COVID-19 in the mother tongue.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8622949
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-86229492021-11-27 Pediatric Dentists’ Service Provisions in South-East Europe during the First Wave of COVID-19 Epidemic: Lessons Learned about Preventive Measures and Personal Protective Equipment Use Vuković, Ana Mandić-Rajčević, Stefan Sava-Rosianu, Ruxandra D Betancourt, Marcela Xhajanka, Edit Hysenaj, Neada Bajric, Elmedin Zukanović, Amila Philippides, Vrassidas Zosimas, Marios Nikolaos, Maroufidis Vlahović, Zoran Denkovski, Marijan Peric, Tamara Markovic, Dejan Campus, Guglielmo Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Introduction: Having in mind the importance of providing continuous pediatric dental services during the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that children have similar viral loads to adults, the potential to spread the virus to others, and with variable clinical presentation of COVID-19 infection, this study aimed to analyze the impact of COVID-19 outbreak on pediatric dentistry service provision, risks, and preventive measures before and during dental treatment. Method: Structured and closed epidemiological cross-sectional survey involved seven Southeastern European countries. The questionnaire was developed using the modified Delphi method, pretested, and tested in North Italy during April 2020. The sample consisted of licensed dental professionals reached via national dental chambers and social media using the best strategies according to the national setting. Results: A total of 3227 dentists participated in the survey, and we included 643 specialists in this study—among them, 164 were pediatric dentists. Most pediatric dentists worked in the public sector (61.0%) and provided emergency (64.6%) and routine dental treatment (18.3%) during the outbreak. One-third of pediatric dentists were COVID-19 tested, statistically significantly more than other specialties, and 3.0% tested COVID-19 positive. In addition, significantly more pediatric dentists (13.4%) reported the presence of at least one symptom related to COVID-19 compared to other specialists (6.1%). None of the pediatric dentists reported PPE shortage. However, 26.2% of all specialists stated that they lacked clear step by step professional guidance in a national language. Similarly, in both groups, around 10% of specialists attended education on coronavirus. Conclusions: Considering that most pediatric dentists provided dental treatment during lockdown in their countries in public health centers and that they will continue to work during pandemic, our results suggest that pediatric dentists might be at higher risk of COVID-19 infection. Further research should focus on finding better ways to promote and adapt preventive, protective measures and PPE in the pediatric dental setting to be behaviorally acceptable. Moreover, additional efforts should be invested in dental education regarding COVID-19 in the mother tongue. MDPI 2021-11-10 /pmc/articles/PMC8622949/ /pubmed/34831551 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182211795 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Vuković, Ana
Mandić-Rajčević, Stefan
Sava-Rosianu, Ruxandra
D Betancourt, Marcela
Xhajanka, Edit
Hysenaj, Neada
Bajric, Elmedin
Zukanović, Amila
Philippides, Vrassidas
Zosimas, Marios
Nikolaos, Maroufidis
Vlahović, Zoran
Denkovski, Marijan
Peric, Tamara
Markovic, Dejan
Campus, Guglielmo
Pediatric Dentists’ Service Provisions in South-East Europe during the First Wave of COVID-19 Epidemic: Lessons Learned about Preventive Measures and Personal Protective Equipment Use
title Pediatric Dentists’ Service Provisions in South-East Europe during the First Wave of COVID-19 Epidemic: Lessons Learned about Preventive Measures and Personal Protective Equipment Use
title_full Pediatric Dentists’ Service Provisions in South-East Europe during the First Wave of COVID-19 Epidemic: Lessons Learned about Preventive Measures and Personal Protective Equipment Use
title_fullStr Pediatric Dentists’ Service Provisions in South-East Europe during the First Wave of COVID-19 Epidemic: Lessons Learned about Preventive Measures and Personal Protective Equipment Use
title_full_unstemmed Pediatric Dentists’ Service Provisions in South-East Europe during the First Wave of COVID-19 Epidemic: Lessons Learned about Preventive Measures and Personal Protective Equipment Use
title_short Pediatric Dentists’ Service Provisions in South-East Europe during the First Wave of COVID-19 Epidemic: Lessons Learned about Preventive Measures and Personal Protective Equipment Use
title_sort pediatric dentists’ service provisions in south-east europe during the first wave of covid-19 epidemic: lessons learned about preventive measures and personal protective equipment use
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8622949/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34831551
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182211795
work_keys_str_mv AT vukovicana pediatricdentistsserviceprovisionsinsoutheasteuropeduringthefirstwaveofcovid19epidemiclessonslearnedaboutpreventivemeasuresandpersonalprotectiveequipmentuse
AT mandicrajcevicstefan pediatricdentistsserviceprovisionsinsoutheasteuropeduringthefirstwaveofcovid19epidemiclessonslearnedaboutpreventivemeasuresandpersonalprotectiveequipmentuse
AT savarosianuruxandra pediatricdentistsserviceprovisionsinsoutheasteuropeduringthefirstwaveofcovid19epidemiclessonslearnedaboutpreventivemeasuresandpersonalprotectiveequipmentuse
AT dbetancourtmarcela pediatricdentistsserviceprovisionsinsoutheasteuropeduringthefirstwaveofcovid19epidemiclessonslearnedaboutpreventivemeasuresandpersonalprotectiveequipmentuse
AT xhajankaedit pediatricdentistsserviceprovisionsinsoutheasteuropeduringthefirstwaveofcovid19epidemiclessonslearnedaboutpreventivemeasuresandpersonalprotectiveequipmentuse
AT hysenajneada pediatricdentistsserviceprovisionsinsoutheasteuropeduringthefirstwaveofcovid19epidemiclessonslearnedaboutpreventivemeasuresandpersonalprotectiveequipmentuse
AT bajricelmedin pediatricdentistsserviceprovisionsinsoutheasteuropeduringthefirstwaveofcovid19epidemiclessonslearnedaboutpreventivemeasuresandpersonalprotectiveequipmentuse
AT zukanovicamila pediatricdentistsserviceprovisionsinsoutheasteuropeduringthefirstwaveofcovid19epidemiclessonslearnedaboutpreventivemeasuresandpersonalprotectiveequipmentuse
AT philippidesvrassidas pediatricdentistsserviceprovisionsinsoutheasteuropeduringthefirstwaveofcovid19epidemiclessonslearnedaboutpreventivemeasuresandpersonalprotectiveequipmentuse
AT zosimasmarios pediatricdentistsserviceprovisionsinsoutheasteuropeduringthefirstwaveofcovid19epidemiclessonslearnedaboutpreventivemeasuresandpersonalprotectiveequipmentuse
AT nikolaosmaroufidis pediatricdentistsserviceprovisionsinsoutheasteuropeduringthefirstwaveofcovid19epidemiclessonslearnedaboutpreventivemeasuresandpersonalprotectiveequipmentuse
AT vlahoviczoran pediatricdentistsserviceprovisionsinsoutheasteuropeduringthefirstwaveofcovid19epidemiclessonslearnedaboutpreventivemeasuresandpersonalprotectiveequipmentuse
AT denkovskimarijan pediatricdentistsserviceprovisionsinsoutheasteuropeduringthefirstwaveofcovid19epidemiclessonslearnedaboutpreventivemeasuresandpersonalprotectiveequipmentuse
AT perictamara pediatricdentistsserviceprovisionsinsoutheasteuropeduringthefirstwaveofcovid19epidemiclessonslearnedaboutpreventivemeasuresandpersonalprotectiveequipmentuse
AT markovicdejan pediatricdentistsserviceprovisionsinsoutheasteuropeduringthefirstwaveofcovid19epidemiclessonslearnedaboutpreventivemeasuresandpersonalprotectiveequipmentuse
AT campusguglielmo pediatricdentistsserviceprovisionsinsoutheasteuropeduringthefirstwaveofcovid19epidemiclessonslearnedaboutpreventivemeasuresandpersonalprotectiveequipmentuse