Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Feb 2;10(1):45.
doi: 10.1186/s13643-020-01574-5.

Global concerns of dental and oral health workers during COVID-19 outbreak: a scope study on the concerns and the coping strategies

Peivand Bastani  1 , Mohammadtaghi Mohammadpour  2   3 , Arash Ghanbarzadegan  4 , Kostas Kapellas  4 , Loc Giang Do  4
Affiliations
Review

Global concerns of dental and oral health workers during COVID-19 outbreak: a scope study on the concerns and the coping strategies

Peivand Bastani et al. Syst Rev. .

Abstract

Background: Dental and oral health workers have direct contact with respiratory aerosols of patients during procedures. This study aimed to determine the main concerns of dental and oral health workers globally during COVID-19 outbreaks and the coping strategies that help the resilience of dental and oral healthcare system.

Methods: This scoping study was conducted in August 2020. After adjusting the search strategy, a systematic search of five databases (PubMed, ISI Web of Science, Scopus, ProQuest and EMBASE) was conducted. Data was extracted using Microsoft Excel and the contents of retrieved articles were analysed through a qualitative thematic analysis applying MAX QDA10.

Results: Most articles were either editorial/letters to the editor/commentary formats (34%), or literature reviews (26%). About half of the articles belonged to three countries of Italy, China and the USA (each 16% and totally 48%). Thematic analysis of included papers led to the identification of four main global concerns and 19 sub-concerns. Economic, ethical, social and professional concerns are among dental and oral health concerns. Other results indicate on three main themes and 13 sub-themes as the coping strategies including patient management, infection control and virtual strategies.

Conclusion: Dental and oral health care workers have many concerns relating to COVID-19 including economic, ethical, social and professional factors. Resolution of concerns may involve enhancing coping strategies relating to patient management and infection control strategies as well as using new technologies for virtual contact with the patient without any risk of infection.

Keywords: COVID-19; Coping strategy; Dental health; Global concern; Oral health.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There was no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The scope study PRISMA flow chart
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The status of included articles according to their place and design
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Rothan HA, Byrareddy SN. The epidemiology and pathogenesis of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. J Autoimmunity. 2020;109:102433. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Li JY, You Z, Wang Q, Zhou ZJ, Qiu Y, Luo R, et al. The epidemic of 2019-novel-coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pneumonia and insights for emerging infectious diseases in the future. Microbes Infect. 2020;22(2):80–5. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lai C-C, Shih T-P, Ko W-C, Tang H-J, Hsueh P-R. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19): The epidemic and the challenges. Int J Antimicrob Agents. 2020;55(3):105924. doi: 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2020.105924. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cascella M, Rajnik M, Cuomo A, Dulebohn SC, Di Napoli R. Features, evaluation, and treatment of coronavirus. StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing Copyright © 2020, StatPearls Publishing LLC.; 2020.
    1. Gamio L. The workers who face the greatest coronavirus risk. New York Times. 2020.