Research Letter
Endodontic treatments in the Brazilian Public Health System: influence of COVID-19 pandemic

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hlpt.2021.100514Get rights and content

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the new coronavirus pandemic on the number of endodontic treatments performed in the Brazilian Public Health System.

Methods: The study had a retrospective longitudinal ecological design, using data from dentistry procedures registered from 99.9% (n = 5,564) of whole 5,570 Brazilian municipalities. The absolute number of endodontic procedures was monthly collected and the rate by 100,000 inhabitants was calculated. To compare the changes in rates during the Pandemic period to the respective period of 2019, the rates of March to August of 2019 and 2020 were calculated.

Results: Considering the period of March to August, a reduction rate of endodontic procedures of 50.9% was observed in Brazil, being Maranhão (Northeast Region) the Brazilian state with the highest reduction (93.3%). The reduction rate varied between Brazilian regions.

Conclusions: COVID-19 pandemic impacted negatively in endodontic procedures performed in the Brazilian Public Health System. The postponement of endodontic treatment in Public Health could lead to an overburden of the already stressed system pos-pandemic, increasing the already high number of tooth losses observed in the Brazilian population.

Section snippets

Funding

None.

Ethical approval

Not required.

Declaration of Competing Interest

None.

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© 2021 Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.