Orthodontic emergencies and patients' perceptions of orthodontic patients during the COVID-19 pandemic

Aim: This retrospective research was aimed to evaluate the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on orthodontic emergencies and Patients' perceptions of orthodontic patients. Material and Methods: A total of 204 patients were gathered who were not seen for nearly 5 months from the first of March 2020 to the end of July 2020 due to dental clinic closure. The mean age of the samples was 20.2 (SD = 12.5) years consisting of 134 females (66%) and 70 males (34%). All patients had undergone active orthodontic treatment with fixed and removable appliances before the pandemic. The survey included demographics, types of orthodontic emergencies, and Patients' perceptions of orthodontic treatment during the closure of the dental clinic. Continuous variables were analyzed by mean and standard deviation, while categorical variables were analyzed by frequency and percentage. Results: In general, 46.5% of the patients suffered from various emergencies. The incidence of emergencies was approximately 3 times higher than that of the normal appointment times. Debonding and poking wire had the most frequently reported classification respectively (14.2%) (7.9%). 30.4% of patients stated that pandemic had a significant impact on the efficacy of orthodontic treatment. Conclusions: This study showed that the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on patient care due to a higher number of emergencies and in turns, it delayed the therapeutic progress of patients. 16% of patients with active orthodontic appliances did not continue their treatment due to pandemics. More than half of the patients were willing to be seen every 8 weeks.