Determination and Comparison of Frequency of Endodontic Emergency, Non-endodontic Emergency, and Non-Emergency Conditions in Patients Attending Qamar Dental Hospital, Karachi During Early COVID-19 Pandemic

by

Ahmed Tariq1                               BDS
Juzer Shabbir2                             BDS, MDS
Naheed Najmi3                             BDS, MCPS
Muhammad Athar Khan4            MPH, MCPS, MBA, MBBS
Tazeen Zehra5                             BDS, FCPS
Tahera Ayub6                              BDS, FCPS
Muhammad Anas Kamran7       BDS

 

 

OBJECTIVE: To determine and compare the frequency of endodontic emergencies (EE) with other dental conditions in patients
attending Qamar Dental Hospital (QDH), Karachi during first wave of COVID-19 pandemic.
METHODOLOGY:The dental records of all the dental patients (n= 1824) who attended the QDH during first wave of
COVID-19 Pandemic peak were retrieved and divided into 3 groups based on diagnostic conditions:1) - non-emergency
(NE), 2)- Emergency endodontic (EE), and 3) - Emergency non-endodontic (ENE). The age groups were also divided into 3 group
of 0 to 25, 26 to 50, and >50. Categorical variables were reported as %. Chi-square test was used to find inter-group difference.
p <0.05 was regarded as significant.
RESULTS: Dental records of 1823/1824 patients were analysed. Results suggested that 54.6% of the patients were females and
50.1% of patients belonged to age range 0 to 25. Moreover, 1040 (57%) patients suffered with EE conditions, and 805 (77.4%)
with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis. Analysis showed that significantly higher number of females and patients with age < 50
suffered with EE as compared to males and age >50 (p <0.05). Significantly higher number of patients aged >50 years had ENE
conditions as compared to 0 to 25 age group (p= 0.007)
CONCLUSIONS: Emergency endodontic conditions, especially symptomatic irreversible pulpitis was most prevalent during
COVID-19 pandemic. This condition was experienced more by females and patients of age group <50 years. Efficient allocation
of resources and cross-training is recommended to facilitate treatment of such patients during the pandemics.
KEYWORDS: COVID-19; Dental care; Dental emergency; Demographics; Endodontic emergency; Frequency
HOW TO CITE: Tariq A, Shabbir J, Najmi N, Khan MA Zehra T, Ayub T, Kamran MA. Determination and comparison of
frequency of endodontic emergency, non-endodontic emergency, and non-emergency conditions in patients attending qamar dental
hospital, Karachi during early COVID-19 pandemic. J Pak Dent Assoc 2022;31(2):76-80
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25301/JPDA.312.76
Received: 09 July 2021, Accepted: 30 March 2022

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