Brazilian Primary and Secondary Public Oral Health Attention: Are Dentists Ready to Face the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Objective: To investigate knowledge and practice of Brazilian public primary and secondary health care dentists during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: An online questionnaire with sociodemographic and COVID-19 knowledge questions was used. Results: A total of 4048 dentists working in the Brazilian public primary and secondary health care system were investigated; 4024 (99.41%) believe that COVID-19 can be transmitted through dental procedures. A fair level of COVID-19 symptoms knowledge by these dentists was observed (3.76 +/- 1.27 of 6.00), as well as the skepticism in personal protective equipment (3382; 83.55%) and biosafety procedures (3278; 80.98%) used as an efficient form of COVID-19 transmission prevention. Country region, performance of social distancing, dental specialty, the use of personal protective equipment, and biosafety preventive measures influenced the likelihood of dentists to perform dental treatment, either elective or urgent, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: The need of extra preventive barriers for dental treatment may bring an extra financial stress in the Brazilian public primary and secondary health care system, as well as in the patient-dentist relationship, which may have to be reframed. Internationally accepted public guideline policies regarding dental treatment safety, as well as the technological development of preventive tools, are needed to deal with the challenges brought by COVID-19.

Automated summary

This study investigated the knowledge and practice of Brazilian public primary and secondary health care dentists during the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of these dentists believed in the transmission of COVID-19 through dental procedures, but had a fair level of knowledge about COVID-19 symptoms. There was skepticism about the effectiveness of personal protective equipment and biosafety procedures in preventing COVID-19 transmission. Factors such as country region, social distancing, dental specialty, and the use of protective measures influenced the likelihood of dentists performing dental treatment during the pandemic. The study concludes that additional preventive measures and internationally accepted guidelines are needed to address the challenges brought by COVID-19.