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The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Orthodontic Treatments: A Survey Analysis

Coronavirus disease 2019 represents the pandemic of the 21st century that has negatively affected the lives of the whole of humanity. For many months, the only weapons to fight against this infection were protective masks and social isolation. During recent months, fear of the virus has led people t...

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Autores principales: Saccomanno, Sabina, Saran, Stefano, Guercio, Elisabetta, Mastrapasqua, Rodolfo Francesco, Pirino, Alessio, Scoppa, Fabio
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8871191/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35200241
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/dj10020015
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author Saccomanno, Sabina
Saran, Stefano
Guercio, Elisabetta
Mastrapasqua, Rodolfo Francesco
Pirino, Alessio
Scoppa, Fabio
author_facet Saccomanno, Sabina
Saran, Stefano
Guercio, Elisabetta
Mastrapasqua, Rodolfo Francesco
Pirino, Alessio
Scoppa, Fabio
author_sort Saccomanno, Sabina
collection PubMed
description Coronavirus disease 2019 represents the pandemic of the 21st century that has negatively affected the lives of the whole of humanity. For many months, the only weapons to fight against this infection were protective masks and social isolation. During recent months, fear of the virus has led people to avoid crowded environments and events, and to reduce medical checks, limiting them only to emergencies. Outpatient clinics, doctors’ offices, and all closed-in environments were required to limit the patients’ access. Nowadays, the presence of specific protocols around the world, and the extended vaccination campaign, have allowed a reduction of many restrictions. Unfortunately, the virus is still widespread, and dental practice and dental treatments suffer the consequences. Dental therapies in general, and in particular orthodontics, are not considered lifesaving. Due to this, orthodontists, in this historical time, must find solutions for motivating patients to start or continue therapies, while providing a safe way for them to do so. There are orthodontists who have developed, during this period, different ways to help them in treating and communicating with patients. Aim: The aim of this study is to assess the influence of the pandemic on the choice to start orthodontic treatment, oral health care, and the importance placed on the appearance of dental occlusions. Materials and Methods: This study is a survey analysis of 159 people, which was posted in Facebook groups of adult orthodontic patients. The timestamps and answers of responses were analyzed to avoid duplicated or interrupted questionnaires. Conclusions: This study found that the current health emergency has not reduced the demand for orthodontic care, while some patients’ behaviors are changing in relation to oral hygiene and the importance that they attribute to dental health. It seems that dentists’ availability plays a key role in this period of sanitary emergency.
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spelling pubmed-88711912022-02-25 The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Orthodontic Treatments: A Survey Analysis Saccomanno, Sabina Saran, Stefano Guercio, Elisabetta Mastrapasqua, Rodolfo Francesco Pirino, Alessio Scoppa, Fabio Dent J (Basel) Article Coronavirus disease 2019 represents the pandemic of the 21st century that has negatively affected the lives of the whole of humanity. For many months, the only weapons to fight against this infection were protective masks and social isolation. During recent months, fear of the virus has led people to avoid crowded environments and events, and to reduce medical checks, limiting them only to emergencies. Outpatient clinics, doctors’ offices, and all closed-in environments were required to limit the patients’ access. Nowadays, the presence of specific protocols around the world, and the extended vaccination campaign, have allowed a reduction of many restrictions. Unfortunately, the virus is still widespread, and dental practice and dental treatments suffer the consequences. Dental therapies in general, and in particular orthodontics, are not considered lifesaving. Due to this, orthodontists, in this historical time, must find solutions for motivating patients to start or continue therapies, while providing a safe way for them to do so. There are orthodontists who have developed, during this period, different ways to help them in treating and communicating with patients. Aim: The aim of this study is to assess the influence of the pandemic on the choice to start orthodontic treatment, oral health care, and the importance placed on the appearance of dental occlusions. Materials and Methods: This study is a survey analysis of 159 people, which was posted in Facebook groups of adult orthodontic patients. The timestamps and answers of responses were analyzed to avoid duplicated or interrupted questionnaires. Conclusions: This study found that the current health emergency has not reduced the demand for orthodontic care, while some patients’ behaviors are changing in relation to oral hygiene and the importance that they attribute to dental health. It seems that dentists’ availability plays a key role in this period of sanitary emergency. MDPI 2022-01-20 /pmc/articles/PMC8871191/ /pubmed/35200241 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/dj10020015 Text en © 2022 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
Saccomanno, Sabina
Saran, Stefano
Guercio, Elisabetta
Mastrapasqua, Rodolfo Francesco
Pirino, Alessio
Scoppa, Fabio
The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Orthodontic Treatments: A Survey Analysis
title The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Orthodontic Treatments: A Survey Analysis
title_full The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Orthodontic Treatments: A Survey Analysis
title_fullStr The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Orthodontic Treatments: A Survey Analysis
title_full_unstemmed The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Orthodontic Treatments: A Survey Analysis
title_short The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Orthodontic Treatments: A Survey Analysis
title_sort influence of the covid-19 pandemic on orthodontic treatments: a survey analysis
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8871191/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35200241
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/dj10020015
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