TY - JOUR

T1 - Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on dental practices in Denmark

AU - Øzhayat, Esben Boeskov

AU - Bahrami, Golnosh

AU - Rosing, Kasper

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Acta Odontologica Scandinavica Society.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Objective: To investigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the patient flow and economy as experienced by dental practices in Denmark. Material and methods: A survey regarding experience of patient flow, economical turnover, financial strain and willingness to pay for large treatments during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic (March 2020 to March 2021), along with information on the characteristics of the practice (specialist practice, ownership, practice operation and size) was distributed to all dental practices in Denmark in March 2021. Results: Of the 1728 practices, 581 (33.6%) answered the survey. A decline in patient flow and a decline in economical turnover were reported by 79% and 84.4% of the practices, respectively. Financial strain was reported by 15.8% and an increased willingness to pay for large treatments was reported by 32.1%. A large decline in turnover and financial strain were associated with non-specialized practices, practices with a single owner and small practices. Logistic regressions showed that practices not receiving referrals had an odds ratio of 2.34 (CI: 1.32-4.14) for having a large decline in economic turnover compared with practices receiving referrals and that small practices had an odds ratio of 1.92 (CI: 1.16-3.19) for reporting financial strain compared with large practices. Conclusions: Reportedly, the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a decline in both patient flow and economical turnover in Danish dental practices. Large and more specialized practices seem to have managed the economic crisis better.

AB - Objective: To investigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the patient flow and economy as experienced by dental practices in Denmark. Material and methods: A survey regarding experience of patient flow, economical turnover, financial strain and willingness to pay for large treatments during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic (March 2020 to March 2021), along with information on the characteristics of the practice (specialist practice, ownership, practice operation and size) was distributed to all dental practices in Denmark in March 2021. Results: Of the 1728 practices, 581 (33.6%) answered the survey. A decline in patient flow and a decline in economical turnover were reported by 79% and 84.4% of the practices, respectively. Financial strain was reported by 15.8% and an increased willingness to pay for large treatments was reported by 32.1%. A large decline in turnover and financial strain were associated with non-specialized practices, practices with a single owner and small practices. Logistic regressions showed that practices not receiving referrals had an odds ratio of 2.34 (CI: 1.32-4.14) for having a large decline in economic turnover compared with practices receiving referrals and that small practices had an odds ratio of 1.92 (CI: 1.16-3.19) for reporting financial strain compared with large practices. Conclusions: Reportedly, the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a decline in both patient flow and economical turnover in Danish dental practices. Large and more specialized practices seem to have managed the economic crisis better.

KW - Covid-19

KW - Denmark

KW - dental practice

KW - economy

KW - patient flow

U2 - 10.1080/00016357.2022.2096923

DO - 10.1080/00016357.2022.2096923

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 35802695

AN - SCOPUS:85133703426

VL - 81

SP - 131

EP - 136

JO - Acta Odontologica Scandinavica

JF - Acta Odontologica Scandinavica

SN - 0001-6357

IS - 2

ER -