The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on parents seeking dental care for their children

Many changes in routine dental care were implemented to protect dentists and patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pediatric dentists face unique challenges in dealing with parental fears and behavioral changes in pediatric patients. Despite the meticulous infection control protocols that dental offices have implemented during the pandemic, they experienced significant reductions in routine recall. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on parents seeking dental care for their children at the Temple Kornberg School of Dentistry (TUKSoD). Parents who currently have their children treated at the TUKSoD were invited to participate in a questionnaire. One hundred and six parents completed the survey anonymously on paper. The survey focused on parents’ attitude changes towards dental care for their children post-pandemic. Bivariate analysis followed by a Two-way ANOVA test was used to calculate the association between the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on parents of pediatric patients’ decision to seek dental care versus the age of the child. Our results showed that improved dental protocols increased the likelihood of parents bringing their children to the dentist during the COVID pandemic (p < 0.001). The results help pediatric dentists to build trust among their patients during the pandemic. It will also help policymakers understand the pediatric patients’ parents’ concerns and assess their current safety measures. Ultimately, this study will give practitioners more insight into how to handle outbreaks of new COVID-19 variants that may present in the future.