Oral and dental health comorbidity in COVID-19 era: social aspects and impacts on community dentistry in Saudi Arabia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20204449Keywords:
Outbreak, Pandemic, Knowledge, Attitude, Behaviour, KSA, Systemic diseases, Medically compromised patientAbstract
Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) announced COVID-19 a public health emergency of global concern. The most vulnerable populations are elderly and/or medically compromised people. it is recommended that non-emergency and elective procedures be postponed while dental clinics remain open to patients with urgent needs. Providing oral-health instruction is important to limit the needs of patients to leave their homes for treatment. The aim of this study is to evaluate the knowledge and behaviour of residents in Saudi Arabia towards their oral health during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Methods: This study was a cross-sectional descriptive survey. Data was collected through online self-administration of the questionnaire on the Google forms platform. Any relationships between the variables were analysed using Pearson’s chi-squared test. A p value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: This study included 1000 participants. 70.7% reported that their oral-health care practices became worse during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants’ medical histories revealed that 17.8% had multiple chronic illnesses. Of all respondents, 48.2% believed that COVID-19 is a serious health problem and only 33.4% of respondents were aware that only emergency treatment is being offered at dental clinics during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Conclusions: An alarming percentage of participants do not see COVID-19 as threatening to their health. A number of people needed urgent treatment but preferred to stay home because of fear and anxiety connected to the pandemic. The lack of information can lead to the exacerbation of such fear, which in turn causes individuals to neglect their oral health.
References
Komies S, Aldhahir AM, Alghamdi SM, Alqarni A, Oyelade T, Alqahtani JSJ. COVID-19 Outcomes in Saudi Arabia and the UK: A Tale of Two Kingdoms. 2020.
Zhang L-P, Wang M, Wang Y, Zhu J, Zhang NJFM. Focus on a 2019-novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). Future Med. 2020;15(10).
Sohrabi C, Alsafi Z, O’Neill N, Khan M, Kerwan A, Al-Jabir A, et al. World Health Organization declares global emergency: A review of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Int J Surg. 2020;76:71-6.
Control CfD, Prevention. CDC guidance for providing dental care during COVID-19. 2020.
Algaissi AA, Alharbi NK, Hassanain M, Hashem AM, Health P. Preparedness and Response to COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: Building on MERS Experience. 2020;13(6):834-8.
Health TSmo. Available at: https://www.moh.gov.sa/Ministry/MediaCenter/News/Pages/News-2020-05-24-001.aspx. Accessed on: 25 July 2020.
CDC COVID-19 Response Team. Severe outcomes among patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)—United States, February 12–March 16, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020;69(12):343-6.
Meyer U, Kleinheinz J, Handschel J, Kruse-Lösler B, Weingart D, Joos U, et al. Oral findings in three different groups of immunocompromised patients. J Oral Pathol Med. 2000;29(4):153-8.
Kragt L, Dhamo B, Wolvius EB, Ongkosuwito EM. The impact of malocclusions on oral health-related quality of life in children—a systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Oral Investig. 2016;20(8):1881-94.
Huang DL, Chan KCG, Young BA. Poor oral health and quality of life in older US adults with diabetes mellitus. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2013;61(10):1782-8.
CDC. Adult oral health | basics | division of oral health |. 2019. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/oralhealth/basics/adult-oral-health/index.html. Accessed on: 25 July 2020.
ADA. From the emergency room to the dental chair—Action for dental health. 2020. Available at: https://www.ada.org/en/public-programs/action-for-dental-health/er-referral. Accessed on: 25 July 2020.
ADHA. Adha covid-19 updates for dental hygienists | adha—American dental hygienists association. 2020. Available at: https://www.adha.org/covid19. Accessed on: 25 July 2020.
Griffin SO, Jones JA, Brunson D, Griffin PM, Bailey WD. Burden of oral disease among older adults and implications for public health priorities. Am J Public Health. 2012;102(3):411-8.
Ghaffari M, Rakhshanderou S, Ramezankhani A, Noroozi M, Armoon BJ. Oral health education and promotion programmes: meta‐analysis of 17‐year intervention. Int J Dent Hyg. 2018;16(1):59-67.
Petersen PE. World Health Organization global policy for improvement of oral health‐World Health Assembly 2007. Int Dent J. 2008;58(3):115-21.
Petersen PE, epidemiology o. The World Oral Health Report 2003: continuous improvement of oral health in the 21st century–the approach of the WHO Global Oral Health Programme. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2003;31:3-24.
Kamer AR, Craig RG, Dasanayake AP, Brys M, Glodzik-Sobanska L, de Leon MJ, et al. Inflammation and Alzheimer's disease: possible role of periodontal diseases. Alzheimers Dement. 2008;4(4):242-50.
Pritchard AB, Crean S, Olsen I, Singhrao SK. Periodontitis, microbiomes and their role in Alzheimer’s disease. Front Aging Neurosci. 2017;9:336.
Johnson JG, Cohen P, Pine DS, Klein DF, Kasen S, Brook JS. Association between cigarette smoking and anxiety disorders during adolescence and early adulthood. JAMA. 2000;284(18):2348-51.
Kinane D, Chestnutt IG. Smoking and periodontal disease. Crit Rev Oral Biol Med. 2000;11(3):356-65.
Yang J, Zheng Y, Gou X, Pu K, Chen Z, Guo Q, et al. Prevalence of comorbidities in the novel Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Infect Dis. 2020;94:91-5.
Pietropaoli D, Del Pinto R, Ferri C, Wright JT, Giannoni M, Ortu E, et al. Poor oral health and blood pressure control among US hypertensive adults: results from the national health and nutrition examination survey 2009 to 2014. Hypertension. 2018;72(6):1365-73.
Huang YF, Chang CT, Liu SP, Muo CH, Tsai CH, Hong HH, et al. The impact of oral hygiene maintenance on the association between periodontitis and osteoporosis: a nationwide population-based cross sectional study. Medicine (Baltimore). 2016;95(6):e2348.
Lockhart PB, Brennan MT, Thornhill M, Michalowicz BS, Noll J, Bahrani-Mougeot FK, et al. Poor oral hygiene as a risk factor for infective endocarditis–related bacteremia. J Am Dent Assoc. 2009;140(10):1238-44.
Ostir GV, Goodwin JS. High anxiety is associated with an increased risk of death in an older tri-ethnic population. J Clin Epidemiol. 2006;59(5):534-40.
Berg-Weger M, Morley JE. Loneliness in old age: an unaddressed health problem. J Nutr Health Aging. 2020;24:243-5.
SEER. Cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx—Cancer stat facts. 2019. Available at: https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/oralcav.html.2019. Accessed on 15 April 2020.
Ather A, Patel B, Ruparel NB, Diogenes A, Hargreaves KM. Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19): implications for clinical dental care. J Endod. 2020;46(5):584-95.
Klompas M, Morris CA, Sinclair J, Pearson M, Shenoy ES. Universal masking in hospitals in the Covid-19 era. NEJM. 2020;382(21):63.
