Impact of COVID-19 on Dental Practice in Kerala, India: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background: Dentistry in India is facing many challenges owing to the increase in the number of dentists and meager job opportunities. As a majority of dental procedures are aerosol generating, the pandemic caused a huge impact on dental practice and education. Further, the risk of transmission of SARCoV-2 virus is high as the dentists work in close contact with the oral cavity. Thus, this study aims to explore the impact of COVID-19 on dental practice in Kerala. Methodology: A qualitative study was conducted among 31 dentists and 6 key administrative officials in Kerala through in-depth interviews, strictly adhering to the COREQ guidelines. The interviews were transcribed, translated, and analyzed manually. Results: Following inductive thematic analysis, seven themes emerged on “Impact of COVID-19 on Dentistry;” (1) Negative Impact of COVID-19 on Private Dental Clinic’s Income, (2) Negative Impact of COVID-19 on Government Dental Health Centers, (3) Negative Impact of COVID-19 on choice of Dental treatment Procedures, (4) Negative Impact of COVID-19 on Dental Education, (5) Positive impact of COVID-19 on Private Dental Clinics, (6) Positive Impact of COVID-19 on Professional Dental Associations, and (7) Positive impact of COVID-19 on dental health-care planning and timely implementation to assure the quality of care in future. Conclusion: A secured financial mechanism for dental practitioners, strong dental administration setup, increasing the quality of dental care by continuing the existing COVID treatment practices and improving the quality of dental education by implementing a strict protocol for conducting online classes, and employing more dentists, and dental auxiliaries in government health-care centers were identified as the measures to safeguard dentistry, especially during a pandemic.