Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on Patients Undergoing Orthodontic Treatment: A Survey Based Study

Authors

  • Pirah Haque
  • Sadia Rizwan
  • Imtiaz Ahmed
  • Taskeen Khan
  • Hiba Tabassum
  • Sarfaraz Hussain

Keywords:

COVID-19 lockdown, Orthodontic treatment, Psychological distress, Treatment needs, Pandemic, Emergencies

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate how the COVID-19 lockdown influenced patients receiving orthodontic therapy.

METHODOLOGY: An Ambispective study was done by collecting the data from July to August 2022. An investigative questionnaire containing 17 questions was   circulated to 325 respondents/patients. The data was collected using a convenience sampling technique. Patients undergoing orthodontic treatment with fixed appliances aged 18 to 40 years were included in the study. Both male and female respondents who participated in the survey varied in terms of their ages, i.e., between 18 to 40 years. Version 24 of a statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) has been used for data analysis.

RESULTS: According to the study's findings, the lockdown's impact on patients undergoing orthodontic treatments was significant. For instance, anxiety & psychological distress were  created during the lockdown because of concerns regarding the closure of hospitals and delayed visits to orthodontists or problems in getting appointments. Because of this, patients feared prolonged treatment durations and orthodontic emergencies, including discomfort, wires pinching them, ruptured skin, damaged brackets, ligature ties and bondable buccal tubes, etc.

CONCLUSION: Due to covid-19 lockdown, patients found difficulty in their regular appointments or monthly checkups as the hospitals were closed. Patients also experienced mental distress, making it imperative to comprehend the psychology of individuals experiencing orthodontic care.

References

Shenoi SB, Deshpande S, Jatti R. Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on Patients Undergoing Orthodontic Treatment: A Questionnaire Study. J Indian Orthod Soc. 2020; 54(3): 195-202. doi: 10.1177/0301574220942233.

Khokhar NA, Jan A, Shinwari MS, Anwar A, Farid H. Dental Fear and Anxiety among Orthodontic Patients - A Pakistani Sample. Pak Oral Dent J. 2015; 35(2): 220-223

Jain SR, Pandian S. Prevalence of Dental Fear and Anxiety among Orthodontic Patients (A Survey). J Pharm Sci & Res. 2016; 8(9): 1091-1093.

Mustafa S, Younis R, Islam H, Durrani O. Dental fear in patients pursuing orthodontic treatment. Pak Orthod J. 2017; 9(1): 37-42.

Xiong X, Wu Y, Fang X, Sun W, Ding Q, Yi Y et al. Mental distress in orthodontic patients during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop. 2020; 158(6): 824-833. doi: 10.1016/j.ajodo.2020.07.005. Epub 2020 Jul 10.

Eliades T, Koletsi D. Minimizing the aerosol-generating procedures in orthodontics in the era of a pandemic: Current evidence on the reduction of hazardous effects for the treatment team and patients. Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop. 2020; 158(3): 330-342. doi: 10.1016/j.ajodo.2020.06. 002. Epub 2020 Jul 16.

Meng L, Hua F, Bian Z. Response to the letter to the editor: how to deal with suspended oral treatment during the COVID-19 epidemic. J Dent Res. 2020; 99(8): 988. doi: 10.1177/0022034520 920166. Epub 2020 Apr 13.

Huser MC, Baehni PC, Lang R. Effects of orthodontic bands on microbiologic and clinical parameters. Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop. 1990; 97(3): 213-8. doi: 10.1016/S0889-5406(05)80054-X.

Gyawali R, Pokharel PR, Giri J. Emergency appointments in orthodontics. APOS Trends Orthod. 2019; 9(1): 40-43. doi: 10.25259/APOS-9-1-7.

Sella Tunis T, Ratson T, Matalon S, Abba M, Abramson A, Davidovitch M et al. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Israeli orthodontic practice: A clinic's activity and patients' attitudes. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022; 19(4): 1965.

Bustati N, Rajeh N. The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on patients receiving orthodontic treatment: An online questionnaire cross-sectional study. J World Fed Orthod. 2020; 9(4): 159-63. doi: 10.1016/j.ejwf.2020.10.003. Epub 2020 Oct 23.

Morosan H. Orthodontic treatment in times of Covid-19. J Med Life. 2021; 14(2): 205-209.

Downloads

Published

27-09-2023

How to Cite

1.
Haque P, Sadia Rizwan, Ahmed I, Khan T, Tabassum H, Hussain S. Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on Patients Undergoing Orthodontic Treatment: A Survey Based Study. J Liaq Uni Med Health Sci [Internet]. 2023 Sep. 27 [cited 2024 Nov. 22];22(03):206-10. Available from: http://ojs.lumhs.edu.pk/index.php/jlumhs/article/view/1055

Issue

Vol. 22 No. 03 (2023): Journal of Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences

Section

Short Survey / KAP Study / Short Report / Short communication

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Journal of Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Submission of a manuscript to the journal implies that all authors have read and agreed to the content of the undertaking form or the Terms and Conditions.

When an article is accepted for publication, the author(s) retain the copyright and are required to grant the publisher the right of first publication and other non-exclusive publishing rights to JLUMHS.

Articles published in the Journal of Liaquat University of Medical & health sciences are open access articles under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial - Share Alike 4.0 License. This license permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium; provided the original work is properly cited and initial publication in this journal. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access. In addition to that users are allowed to remix, tweak and build upon the work non-commercially as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms. Or, in certain cases it can be stated that all articles and content there in are published under creative commons license unless stated otherwise.