Impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic on Patient Applications at the Endodontic Clinic

Objective: The pandemic that occurred in 2019 as a result of a virus’s appearance has altered every aspect of life. This virus, known as severe acute respiratory syndrome novel coronavirus 2 and affecting the respiratory system, is spread through inhalation, saliva, aerosol, and contaminated places like other viruses of a similar nature. Dentistry has also been affected by the elevated danger of contamination during dental procedures. This study aims to evaluate how the coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic has affected patient applications at the endodontic clinic. Our work is believed to assist researchers and doctors in figuring out and assessing the number of patients and required treatments at times when the need for urgent care surges.

Methods: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic’s impact on patients who applied to the endodontic clinic was examined in this retrospective observational study. This study compared patient applications from the year before the epidemic (March 2019-March 2020) with those from the first year of the pandemic (2020-2021). Age, gender, and chronic illnesses variations in the applications were assessed. Furthermore, the impact of the number of coronavirus disease 2019 cases discovered in Türkiye on the number of patients seeking treatment at the clinic during the pandemic was assessed.

Results: In the year after the pandemic, there were 7337 patient admissions, a decrease of 69.7% from the year before the outbreak. Despite the absence of a statistically significant gender-based variation, the 45-64 age category had fewer respondents than the other age groups. According to the findings, there was no statistically significant correlation between the number of cases recorded in Türkiye and the number of patient admissions.

Conclusion: According to our data, those who applied during the pandemic had lower average ages, genders, and comorbid diseases than those who applied before the pandemic. The number of patients accessing the clinic during times of restrictions decreased.

Cite this article as: Kösetürk M, Bayram E. Impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on patient applications at the endodontic clinic. Arch Basic Clin Res., 2023;5(3):386-390.