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

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