COVID-19 – a 'dental disaster'

A Wrigley Oral Healthcare Programme survey of 420 dental professionals found that just over three quarters (76%) have seen a significant, or very significant, impact on patients’ oral health since the beginning of the pandemic.

Three quarters of those who have seen a significant or very significant impact on the oral health of their patients have noticed a decline in routine dental appointments during the pandemic. Hygienist appointments have also fallen by the wayside as dentists have only been able to see, for the most part, urgent appointments.

Meanwhile, the FDI World Dental Federation say they too are seeing first-hand the catastrophic aftermath of the virus on the health of people’s teeth and gums in dental practices around the globe, with President, Dr Gerhard Konrad Seeberger, saying: ‘Let’s call it for what it is – a dental disaster. Restrictions have certainly played a part in oral health hesitancy, but they don’t tell the whole story.’