Dental care during the COVID-19 pandemic: assessment of the infection rate and economic impact among dentists in Paraná, Brazil.

Abstract

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had major impacts across the world. New biosecurity protocols were adopted to prevent or minimize the spread of the virus, which directly impacted the health area. Professionals working in this area were considered those most prone to contamination, due to the fact of constant exposure to the virus. In this group of health professionals, dentists stand out, who in the exercise of their profession had direct contact with potentially contaminated aerosols and droplets, mainly due to the use of refrigerated rotating pens, which more easily disseminated such particles. Thus, the objective of this study is to identify the contamination rate of COVID-19 on the part of dentists and relate it to the economic impacts that the pandemic had on these professionals, since the number of elective procedures within dental offices has suffered. a sudden drop during this period. It is concluded that although dentists were considered the health professionals most likely to be contaminated by COVID-19, they had low rates of contamination, where most cases of contagion occurred before the vaccination process. Regarding the economic impacts, the vast majority of dentists suffered from the drop in demand for care, causing a reduction in financial income.