{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T02:10:24Z","timestamp":1760148624446,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,18]],"date-time":"2023-05-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1684368000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Clinics and Practice"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This cross-sectional study intends to evaluate dentists\u2019 perceptions of COVID-19\u2019s effects on the use of emergency dental care both during and after Kuwait\u2019s lockdown periods. A convenience sample of dentists employed by the Ministry of Health\u2019s various emergency dental clinics and School Oral Health Programs (SOHP) throughout Kuwait\u2019s six governorates were invited to take part in this study. To determine the impact of various demographic and occupational characteristics on the mean perception score of the dentist, a multi-variable model was developed. The study was conducted between June\u2013September 2021, and a total of 268 dentists (61% males and 39% females) participated in this study. When compared to pre-lockdown periods, the overall number of patients seen by dentists had significantly decreased after the lockdown period. After lockdown, there were significantly more cases of acute pulpitis with apical periodontitis, abscesses, and pericoronitis than there were before lockdown (p &lt; 0.05). After the lockdown, a significantly higher percentage of dentists (p &lt; 0.05) reported using fewer droplets-generating procedures to manage patients with dental emergencies. After correcting for the other variables in the model, female dentists (\u03b2 = 0.146; 95% CI = 0.071 to 1.451) and non-Kuwaiti dentist (\u03b2 = 0.012; 95% CI = 0.234 to 1.854) had a significantly (p &lt; 0.05) more positive perception of the utilization of dental services than others after adjusting for the other variables in the model. The majority of dentists perceive that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on Kuwait\u2019s use of emergency dental services.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/clinpract13030058","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,18]],"date-time":"2023-05-18T10:01:13Z","timestamp":1684404073000},"page":"638-647","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Dentists\u2019 Perspective on the Impact of COVID-19 on the Utilization of Emergency Dental Services in Kuwait: A Cross-Sectional Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Nour","family":"Alonaizi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of General Dentistry, Ministry of Health, Kuwait City 13001, Kuwait"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sarah","family":"Alharran","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of General Dentistry, Ministry of Health, Kuwait City 13001, Kuwait"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0032-0464","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jagan Kumar","family":"Baskaradoss","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Developmental and Preventive Sciences, College of Dentistry, Kuwait University, Kuwait City 13110, Kuwait"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,18]]},"reference":[{"unstructured":"World Health Organization (2022, February 16). WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard. Available online: https:\/\/covid19.who.int\/.","key":"ref_1"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"745","DOI":"10.26719\/emhj.21.006","article-title":"Epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 cases among Indians residing in Kuwait","volume":"27","author":"Baskaradoss","year":"2021","journal-title":"East. Mediterr. Health J."},{"unstructured":"Ministry of Health-Kuwait (2022, February 16). Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Updates, Available online: https:\/\/corona.e.gov.kw\/En\/.","key":"ref_3"},{"unstructured":"United States CDC (2022, February 20). How COVID-19 Spreads, Available online: https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/prevent-getting-sick\/how-covid-spreads.html.","key":"ref_4"},{"doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Baskaradoss, J.K., and Al-Asfour, A. (2021). Dental Education in an Era of COVID-19: Kuwait\u2019s Experience. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 18.","key":"ref_5","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph18115606"},{"unstructured":"American Dental Association (2020, April 24). ADA Develops Guidance on Dental Emergency, Nonemergency Care. Available online: https:\/\/www.ada.org\/en\/publications\/ada-news\/2020-archive\/march\/ada-develops-guidance-on-dental-emergency-nonemergency-care.","key":"ref_6"},{"unstructured":"Royal College of Surgeons England (2020, April 24). Recommendations for Paediatric Dentistry during COVID-19 Pandemic. Available online: https:\/\/www.rcseng.ac.uk\/-\/media\/files\/rcs\/fds\/guidelines\/paediatric-dentistry-covid19.pdf.","key":"ref_7"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"543","DOI":"10.1007\/s40368-020-00547-5","article-title":"Assessment of paediatric dental guidelines and caries management alternatives in the post COVID-19 period. A critical review and clinical recommendations","volume":"21","author":"Salami","year":"2020","journal-title":"Eur. Arch. Paediatr. Dent."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"539","DOI":"10.1111\/scd.12523","article-title":"Dental care management during the COVID-19 outbreak","volume":"40","author":"Falahchai","year":"2020","journal-title":"Sp\u00e9c. Care Dent."},{"doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kuehne, A., Lynch, E., Marshall, E., Tiffany, A., Alley, I., Bawo, L., Massaquoi, M., Lodesani, C., Le Vaillant, P., and Porten, K. (2016). Mortality, Morbidity and Health-Seeking Behaviour during the Ebola Epidemic 2014\u20132015 in Monrovia Results from a Mobile Phone Survey. PLOS Neglected Trop. Dis., 10.","key":"ref_10","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0004899"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"897","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.16-0295","article-title":"Changes in Health-Seeking Behavior Did Not Result in Increased All-Cause Mortality during the Ebola Outbreak in Western Area, Sierra Leone","volume":"95","author":"Vygen","year":"2016","journal-title":"Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8893423","DOI":"10.1155\/2020\/8893423","article-title":"Change of Outpatient Oral Surgery during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Experience of an Italian Center","volume":"2020","author":"Bennardo","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int. J. Dent."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"188","DOI":"10.1111\/irv.12804","article-title":"Health-seeking behaviors of patients with acute respiratory infections during the outbreak of novel coronavirus disease 2019 in Wuhan, China","volume":"15","author":"Yang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Influ. Other Respir. Viruses"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"564","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jds.2020.02.002","article-title":"The impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on the utilization of emergency dental services","volume":"15","author":"Guo","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Dent. Sci."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"32","DOI":"10.1111\/idj.12609","article-title":"Emergency Management in a Dental Clinic During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Epidemic in Beijing","volume":"71","author":"Wang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int. Dent. J."},{"doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Petrescu, N.B., Aghiorghiesei, O., Mesaros, A.S., Lucaciu, O.P., Dinu, C.M., Campian, R.S., and Negucioiu, M. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 on Dental Emergency Services in Cluj-Napoca Metropolitan Area: A Cross-Sectional Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 17.","key":"ref_16","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph17217716"},{"key":"ref_17","first-page":"333549221148176","article-title":"Dental Utilization in a Pediatric Emergency Department and Urgent Care Centers Before, During, and After Shutdown of a Pediatric Dental Clinic During the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2019\u20132021","volume":"2023","author":"Whyte","year":"2023","journal-title":"Public Health Rep."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2591","DOI":"10.1016\/j.sjbs.2021.02.002","article-title":"Pediatric dental emergency management and parental treatment preferences during COVID-19 pandemic as compared to 2019","volume":"28","author":"Samuel","year":"2021","journal-title":"Saudi J. Biol. Sci."},{"doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Rodriguez, P.A., Gatti, P., Cabirta, M.L., Baquerizo, N.R., Prada, S., Gualtieri, A., Puia, S., and Squassi, A. (2022). Dental Emergency Admissions in Emergency Oral Health Care Centers during COVID-19 Pandemic in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 19.","key":"ref_19","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph19031528"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"868","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jds.2020.12.012","article-title":"The impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on the utilization of dental services and attitudes of dental residents at the emergency department of a medical center in Taiwan","volume":"16","author":"Wu","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Dent. Sci."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1495","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijsu.2014.07.013","article-title":"The strengthening the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology (STROBE) statement: Guidelines for reporting observational studies","volume":"12","author":"Altman","year":"2014","journal-title":"Int. J. Surg."},{"key":"ref_22","first-page":"828","article-title":"The utilization of dental emergency services during COVID-19 pandemic in a German university center: Do we lose vulnerable patients?","volume":"52","author":"Hahn","year":"2021","journal-title":"Quintessence Int."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"210","DOI":"10.1177\/003335491112600212","article-title":"Secular Trends in Hospital Emergency Department Visits for Dental Care in Kansas City, Missouri, 2001\u20132006","volume":"126","author":"Hong","year":"2011","journal-title":"Public Health Rep."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"66","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1754-4505.2009.00125.x","article-title":"Factors associated with the use of emergency dental care facilities in a French public hospital","volume":"30","author":"Tramini","year":"2010","journal-title":"Sp\u00e9c. Care Dent."},{"doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"De Stefani, A., Bruno, G., Mutinelli, S., and Gracco, A. (2020). COVID-19 outbreak perception in Italian dentists. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 17.","key":"ref_25","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph17113867"}],"container-title":["Clinics and Practice"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2039-7283\/13\/3\/58\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T19:37:46Z","timestamp":1760125066000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2039-7283\/13\/3\/58"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,18]]},"references-count":25,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,6]]}},"alternative-id":["clinpract13030058"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/clinpract13030058","relation":{},"ISSN":["2039-7283"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"2039-7283"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,18]]}}}