Endodontic Specialists' Practice During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic: 1 Year after the Initial Outbreak

Introduction: The aims of this observational study were to determine if endodontists' practices in early 2021 experienced changes in patient characteristics compared with a comparable prepandemic period and to determine whether the changes reported during the initial outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in 2020 were reversed 1 year later. Methods: Demographic, diagnostic, and procedural data of 2657 patient visits from 2 endodontist private offices from March 16 to May 31 in 2019, 2020, and 2021 were included. Bivariate analyses and multiple logistic regression models were used to examine the impact of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on patient data. Results: Bivariate analyses showed that patients' self-reported pain levels and the number of visits with irreversible pulpitis in 2021 were higher than 2019 (P<.05). Patients' self-reported pain, percussion pain, and palpation pain levels in 2021 were less than 2020 (P<.05). Multiple logistic regression analyses showed that endodontists' practices in 2021 had an increase in the number of nonsurgical root canal treatments (odds ratio [OR] 5 1.482; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.102-1.992), and apicoectomies (OR 5 2.662; 95% CI, 1.416-5.004) compared with 2019. Compared with the initial outbreak in 2020, endodontists' practices in 2021 had visits with older patients (OR 5 1.288; 95% CI, 1.045-1.588), less females (OR 5 0.781; 95% CI, 0.635-.960), more molars (OR 5 1.389; 95% CI, 1.065-1.811), and less pain on percussion (OR 5 0.438; 95% CI, 0.339-0.566). Conclusions: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was associated with an increase in the number of nonsurgical root canal treatments. Some of the changes observed during the initial outbreak in 2020, including objective pain parameters, returned to normal levels 1 year later.

Automated summary

This observational study found an increase in the number of nonsurgical root canal treatments and apicoectomies in endodontists' practices in 2021 compared to 2019. Compared to the initial outbreak in 2020, endodontists' practices in 2021 had visits with older patients, fewer females, more molars, and less pain on percussion.