Clinical and psychological behavior of dentists during the COVID-19 pandemic
Keywords:
pandemic; COVID-19; dentistsAbstract
Introduction: The practice of the dentistry is inherently associated with multiple professional risks, making biosafety a constant priority. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these risks were significantly heightened for all healthcare providers—particularly dentists due to their close proximity to patients.
Objective: To assess the clinical and psychological effects experienced by dentists while providing care during the pandemic period.
Method: Two surveys were applied to 107 dentists to investigate the clinical and psychological effects.
Results: The bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses revealed that psychological responses were significantly influenced by clinical behaviors. A total of 60.7% of participants reported disruption of daily activities, reflecting a substantial impact that triggered emotional, psychological, and economic crises. Additionally, 46.7% identified the risk of contagion as their primary concern—a threat especially critical for dental professionals due to their frequent exposure during aerosol-generating procedures.
Conclusions: Dentists who practiced during the COVID-19 pandemic experienced significant adverse effects on both personal and occupational well-being. Key concerns included the risk of infection, improper use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and uncertainty regarding the pandemic’s duration.
Downloads
References
1. Díaz-Castrillón FJ, Toro-Montoya AI. SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19: el virus, la enfermedad y la pandemia. Med Lab [Online]. 2020 [accessed 2025/06/20];24(3):183-205. Available from: https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=8741673
2. Palacios Cruz M, Santos E, Velázquez Cervantes MA, et al. COVID-19, a worldwide public health emergency. Rev Clin Esp. 2021;221(1):55-61. DOI: 10.1016/j.rce.2020.03.001.
3. Maguiña Vargas C, Gastelo Acosta R, Tequen Bernilla A. El nuevo Coronavirus y la pandemia del Covid-19. Rev Médica Herediana [Online]. 2020 [accessed 2025/06/20];31(2):125-31. Available from: https://revistas.upch.edu.pe/index.php/RMH/article/view/3776
4. Villani FA, Aiuto R, Paglia L, et al. Covid-19 and dentistry: Prevention in dental practice, a literature review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(12):4609. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17124609.
5. Banakar M, Bagheri Lankarani K, Jafarpour D, et al. COVID-19 transmission risk and protective protocols in dentistry: a systematic review. BMC Oral Health [Online]. 2020 [accessed 2025/06/20];20(1):275. Available from: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7543039/
6. Salgarello S, Salvadori M, Mazzoleni F, et al. Urgent Dental Care During Italian Lockdown: A Cross-sectional Survey. J Endod. 2021;47(2):204-14. DOI: 10.1016/j.joen.2020.11.005.
7. Centro de Epidemiología y Vigilancia de las Enfermedades Orales - CEVEO. La Odontología en los tiempos del coronavirus-COVID-19. Int J Interdiscip Dent [Online]. 2020 [accessed 2025/06/20];13(1):2-2. Available from: http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2452-55882020000100002&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es
8. Loch C, Kuan IBJ, Elsalem L, et al. COVID-19 and dental clinical practice: Students and clinical staff perceptions of health risks and educational impact. J Dent Educ. 2021;85(1):44-52. doi: 10.1002/jdd.12402.
9. Salvatierra Ávila LY, Gallegos Gallegos EM, Orellana Pelaez CA, et al. Bioseguridad en la pandemia Covid-19: Estudio cualitativo sobre la praxis de enfermería en Ecuador 2020. Bol Malariol Salud Ambient [Online]. 2021 [accessed 2025/06/20];61(1):47-53. Available from: https://pesquisa.bvsalud.org/portal/resource/pt/biblio-1177561
10. Organización Mundial de la Salud. Manejo clínico de la COVID-19: orientaciones evolutivas, 25 de enero de 2021 [Online]. Ginebra: OMS; 2021 [accessed 2025/06/20]. Available from: https://www.who.int/es/publications/i/item/WHO-2019-nCoV-clinical-2021-1
11. Bellini P, Checchi V, Iani C, et al. Psychological reactions to COVID-19 and epidemiological aspects of dental practitioners during lockdown in Italy. Minerva Dent Oral Sci. 2021;70(1):32-43. DOI: 10.23736/S2724-6329.20.04430-1.
12. Lozano-Vargas A. Impacto de la epidemia del Coronavirus (COVID-19) en la salud mental del personal de salud y en la población general de China. Rev Neuropsiquiatr [Online]. 2020 [accessed 2025/06/20];83(1):51-6. Available from: http://www.scielo.org.pe/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-85972020000100051&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es
13. Dávila-Torres GA, Pacheco-Ludeña JE, Dávila-Torres RF. Impacto dela COVID-19 en la salud mental de los profesionales en odontología, como personal de alto riesgo de contagio. Acta Odontol Colomb [Online]. 2020 [accessed 2025/06/20];10(Supl. Covid-19):21-32. Available from: https://busqueda.bvsalud.org/portal/resource/pt/biblio-1141075
14. Huayanca Rios IE, Martínez Vega JJ, Gamarra Tinoco GB, et al. Bioseguridad en Odontología en el contexto de COVID-19. Odontoestomatología. 2022;24(39). DOI: 10.22592/ode2022n39e308.
15. Ali K, Raja M. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): challenges and management of aerosol-generating procedures in dentistry. Evid Based Dent. 2020;21(2):44-5. DOI: 10.1038/s41432-020-0088-4.
16. Martínez-Camus DC, Yévenes-Huaiquinao SR. Atención Dental Durante la Pandemia COVID-19. Int J Odontostomatol. 2020;14(3):288-95. DOI: 10.4067/s0718-381x2020000300288.
17. Preti E, Di Mattei V, Perego G, et al. The Psychological Impact of Epidemic and Pandemic Outbreaks on Healthcare Workers: Rapid Review of the Evidence. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2020;22(8):43. DOI: 10.1007/s11920-020-01166-z.
18. Hidalgo Azofeifa S, Vargas Mena R, Carvajal Carpio L. El efecto psicológico de la COVID-19 en el personal de salud. Rev Méd Sinerg. 2021;6(8):e706. DOI: 10.31434/rms.v6i8.706.
19. De Kock JH, Latham HA, Leslie SJ, et al. A rapid review of the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of healthcare workers: implications for supporting psychological well-being. BMC Public Health. 2021;21(1):104. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-020-10070-3.
20. Fusar-Poli P, Salazar de Pablo G, De Micheli A, et al. What is good mental health? A scoping review. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2020;31:33-46. DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2019.12.105.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Gabriela Vaca-Altamirano, Emily Rodriguez , Carmen Salinas-Goodier, Irvin Tubon
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
All content published in this journal is Open Access, distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 License.
It allows:
- Copy and redistribute published material in any medium or format.
- Adapt the content.
This will be done under the following terms:
- Attribute the authors' credits and indicate whether changes were made, in which case it must be in a reasonable way.
- Non-commercial use.
- Recognize the journal where it is published.
The copyrights of each article are maintained, without restrictions.
