Apprehensions and Optimism among Dental Professionals during the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Evaluation
Lakshmi Nidhi Rao,
Aditya Shetty,
Priyanka Latha Senthilkumar,
Prasanna Kumar J Rao,
Heeresh Shetty,
Shreya K Shetty,
Vidya G Doddawad,
Srikant Natarajan,
Ajinkya M Pawar,
Manjeshwar Shrinath Baliga,
Alexander Maniangat Luke,
Mohmed Isaqali Karobari
Affiliations
Lakshmi Nidhi Rao
Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, AB Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, NITTE Deemed to be University, Mangalore 575018, Karnataka, India
Aditya Shetty
Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, AB Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, NITTE Deemed to be University, Mangalore 575018, Karnataka, India
Priyanka Latha Senthilkumar
Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Vivekanandha Dental College for Women, Tiruchengode 637205, Tamilnadu, India
Prasanna Kumar J Rao
Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, A.J. Institute of Dental Sciences, Mangalore 575004, Karnataka, India
Heeresh Shetty
Department of Conservative Dentistry & Endodontics, Nair Hospital Dental College, Mumbai 400008, Maharashtra, India
Shreya K Shetty
Department of Orthodontics, Government Dental College and Research Institute, Bangalore 560002, Karnataka, India
Vidya G Doddawad
Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, JSS Dental College and Hospital, Mysore 570015, Karnataka, India
Srikant Natarajan
Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Mangalore 575001, Karnataka, India
Ajinkya M Pawar
Department of Conservative Dentistry & Endodontics, Nair Hospital Dental College, Mumbai 400008, Maharashtra, India
Manjeshwar Shrinath Baliga
Research Unit, Mangalore Institute of Oncology, Pumpwell, Mangalore 575002, Karnataka, India
Alexander Maniangat Luke
Department of Clinical Science, College of Dentistry, Ajman University, Al-Jurf, Ajman 346, United Arab Emirates
Mohmed Isaqali Karobari
Department of Restorative Dentistry & Endodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Puthisastra, Phnom Penh 12211, Cambodia
Globally, the pandemic of the coronavirus disease, which started in Wuhan, China, has become a major issue for public health. The COVID-19 epidemic notably causes health professionals to experience significantly more emotional stress than the general populace. The present study proposes to investigate the fear aspect in dentists in the initiation of clinical practice during these times. An online cross-sectional study was conducted among dental practitioners based on a pre-validated questionnaire. The data were expressed as frequency and percentage analyzed using the chi-square test using SPSS version 25. The data was obtained from 271 participants, where clinical practice after the first wave was mostly by freelancers (p-value = 0.01); most of whom were married (p-value = 0.065); 19.1% attached to institutes did not have changes in earnings; 28.1% of private practitioners had less than 10% reduction in cases. A total of 62% of private practitioners are concerned about the vaccine’s preventative effects (p-value = 0.026), and 57% of private practitioners worry about being sued for the delay in treatment (p-value = 0.036). Only 33.1% of employees in institutions worry that becoming sick could endanger their family. As dentists continue to work their way through this pandemic, these pressures only occasionally have an impact on them. According to the researchers, this is the first study that has captured the anxiety and apprehensions that dental practitioners experienced during the height of the COVID-19 outbreak in India in April 2021. The study’s findings demonstrate that the study population was generally upbeat and confident that they could quickly overcome their fear.
