2020 Trends in Dental Office Visits During the COVID-19 Pandemic

 

TAKE-HOME MESSAGE

  • In this retrospective, observational study of weekly visits to dental offices as tracked by cellular smartphone data, weekly visits averaged 34% lower for the period March to August 2020 compared with the same period in 2019. The greatest decline in weekly visits compared with 2019 occurred during the week of April 12, 2020, when there were 66% fewer visits. The average decline in weekly visits during the pandemic was 5.7% greater in counties with the highest COVID-19 incidence compared with  counties with the lowest incidence (P < .001). The average decline in weekly visits during the pandemic was 8.3% greater in counties in the middle tercile of COVID-19 incidence compared with counties in the lowest tercile of incidence (P < .001).

  • This is the first study to directly compare the volume of dental office visits in 2019 and 2020 and to use objective data unaffected by self-reporting bias. As states exhibited widespread variation in declining visits, the authors conclude that dental practices may need to consider different approaches to reopening and encouraging patients to return, depending on location.
–  Laurie C. Carter, DDS, PhD

COVID-19 has created barriers to the delivery of health care services, including dental care. This study sought to quantify the change in dental visits in 2020 compared with 2019.

METHODS

This retrospective, observational study examined the percentage change in weekly visits to dental offices by state (inclusive of the District of Columbia), nationally, and by county-level COVID-19 incidence using geographic information from the mobile applications of 45 million smartphones during 2019 and 2020.

RESULTS

From March through August 2020, weekly visits to dental offices were 33% lower, on average, than in 2019. Weekly visits were 34% lower, on average, in counties with the highest COVID-19 rates. The greatest decline was observed during the week of April 12, 2020, when there were 66% fewer weekly visits to dental offices. The 5 states (inclusive of the District of Columbia) with the greatest declines in weekly visits from 2019 through 2020, ranging from declines of 38% through 53%, were California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, and New Jersey.

CONCLUSIONS

Weekly visits to US dental offices declined drastically during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although rates of weekly visits rebounded substantially by June 2020, rates remain about 20% lower than the prior year as of August 2020. These findings highlight the economic challenges faced by dentists owing to the pandemic.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

States exhibited widespread variation in rates of declining visits during the pandemic, suggesting that dental practices may need to consider different approaches to reopening and encouraging patients to return depending on location.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Consensus Statement on the Relationship Between Centric Occlusion and the Maximal Intercuspal Position and Their Use as Treatment Positions for Complete Mouth Rehabilitation

Image
  TAKE-HOME MESSAGE This best evidence consensus statement aimed to examine the relationship between centric occlusion (CO) and maximal intercuspation position (MIP) and the use of either as a treatment position for complete mouth rehabilitations in dentate or partially dentate patients. A total of 313 articles contributed to this review, finding that CO and MIP are not coincident in a majority of the population. With regard to complete mouth rehabilitation, most reports suggest that CO provides a physiologic, reliable, and reproducible position, with limited reports finding an association between TMJ symptomatology and CO-MIP discrepancies in the treated dentition. While CO-MIP discrepancies are the norm in the natural dentition, complete rehabilitations seem to perform better at CO rather than MIP based on available evidence. It should be noted that the authors could not include lower-quality evidence supporting the use of MIP as the treatm...
Read more

Gingival Overgrowth Induced by Anticonvulsant Drugs

Image
  TAKE-HOME MESSAGE This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of gingival overgrowth and the differences among causative drugs in epileptic patients. A total of 162 patients were included, with the incidence of overgrowth among those taking a single drug (37%) being comparable with that among those taking multiple drugs (45%). Drugs in decreasing order of associated incidence of overgrowth were oxcarbazepine (71%), lamotrigine (61%), phenobarbital (53%), phenytoin (50%), valproic acid (44%), and carbamazepine (32%). Phenytoin and valproic acid have historically been known to cause gingival overgrowth in epileptic patients. The findings of this study remind us that multiple other drugs used in the management of epileptic patients have varying potential to cause gingival overgrowth, some with even higher potential than phenytoin and valproic acid. –  Tapan N. Koticha, BDS, MDS   Clinical Dentistry Written by ...
Read more

Knowledge of and Treatment Practices for Erosive Tooth Wear Among Finnish Dentists

Image
  TAKE-HOME MESSAGE Erosive tooth wear (ETW) is a chemical loss of mineralized tooth substance caused by the exposure to acids mainly from foods or from the GI system. The prevalence and severity of ETW among children and adolescents is increasing with limited measures to improve awareness among patients and oral healthcare providers. This study interviewed 866 dentists from Finland regarding the approach to evaluate and treat ETW based on a clinical case shared by email. A great majority of the respondents (98.0%) recorded ETW in the patient pictures, but only 4.1% used a detailed scoring system. Of the respondents, 64.4% usually found the cause of ETW. The consumption of carbonated beverages (84.3%) and energy drinks (57.0%) and reflux disease (53.1%) were reported to be probable causes. The majority of the respondents (80.9%) usually assessed patients' dietary history while 1.9% evaluated the saliva secretion rate.  Finnish dentists successfully detected and/or diagnos...
Read more