Assessment of the Economic and Health-Care Impact of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) on Public and Private Dental Surgeries in Spain: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Objectives: The COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic is an ongoing public health challenge, also for the dentistry community. The main objective of this paper was to determine the economic and health-care impact of COVID-19 on dentists in the Autonomous Region of Galicia (Spain). Methods: This was a descriptive observational study in which the data was collected by means of a self-administered survey (from 1 April 2020 to 30 April 2020). Results: A total of 400 dentists from Galicia responded to the survey. Only 12.3% of the participants could obtain personal protective equipment (PPE) including FFP2 masks. Of the male respondents, 33.1% suffered losses >€15,000 compared to 19.4% of female respondents (OR = 3.121, p < 0.001). Economic losses seem to have contributed to the applications for economic help as 29.5% of the respondents who applied for this measure recorded losses in excess of €15,000 (p = 0.03). Patients complained more about the fact that only emergency care was available during the State of Alarm, in dental surgeries that do not work with insurance companies or franchises. Only 4 professionals tested positive, 50% of whom worked exclusively in private practice and the other 50% who practised in both private and public surgeries. Dentists who practise in the public sector saw more urgent patients per week than those practising in private surgeries (p = 0.013). Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has had economic repercussions in dentistry as only urgent treatment was available during the State of Alarm. These repercussions seem to be higher in male participants, as the majority of the participants have revealed higher economic losses than females. The level of assistance has also been affected, reducing the number of treated patients, although this quantity has been different in private and public surgeries. By presenting these findings we look to highlight the role that dentists play in society in treating dental emergencies in our surgeries, and this must be recognised and addressed by the relevant authorities, who must provide PPEs as a priority to this group as well as providing special economic aid in accordance with the losses incurred by the sector.