The COVID-19 pandemic has had a disastrous impact on almost every facet of society over the last 15 months or so, something which is clearly evident, says the FDI World Dental Federation (FDI), of which the ADA is a member in the increasingly state of people's oral health across the globe.
In a statement released to mark World Oral Health Day on Saturday 20 March, FDI President Dr Gerhard Konrad Seeberger said:
"Let's call it what it is: a dental disaster. Restrictions have certainly played a part in oral health hesitancy, but they don't tell the whole story."
Acknowledging that "oral health services were among the most affected essential health services" worldwide, with 77% of countries reporting partial or complete disruption, FDI noted that despite the impeccable infection control record of dentists who "have always abided by the most stringent infection prevention and control protocols" and a lower than average rate of SARS-CoV-2 infections compared to other health professionals, many people have put off seeing their dentists for routine treatment, only them seeing for emergency work when the pain becomes severe.
This has had the effect of worsening the incidence of dental caries and related complications, further complicating the provision of treatment when people do see their dentist.
Dr Paulo Melo, an FDI councillor who teaches and practises dentistry in Oporto in Portugal, has seen the effects of this trend firsthand among his own patients.
"During the pandemic, high-risk patients have tended to develop more than one problem, often exhibiting three or four at the same time because too much time has gone by without a check-up. Problems typically include carious lesions and periodontal disease."
The message, according to Dr MK Vanishree, a lecturer in public health dentistry, based in Bangalore in India, is that [patients] "should set aside their fear and not postpone essential, routine dental treatment."
For the full story, go to "Dental disaster: Dentists evaluate consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic"
