Oral health assessment during Covid-19 pandemic: community self-report questionnaire

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Covid-19 pandemic situation has affected community activities, work, income which
decreased, psychological disorders such as stress, and limited accessibility to dental practice service,
which is now for emergency cases only. This condition can affect oral health in the community. This
study aimed to assess the oral health condition in the community during the Covid-19 pandemic. This
study was implementing a cross-sectional research design. Data were obtained from online
questionnaires with the respondent's consent. The sample selection with inclusion criteria comprised 1960
years
old
who
lived
in
Bandung
West
Java.
The
self-report
questionnaire
for
oral
health
assessment

was
followed,
the
previous
research,
by
Levin
et
al.,2013.
It
has
been
trans-adapted
to
Bahasa
Indonesia

and
validated.
Respondents
of
the
study
were
380
participants.
Poor
oral
hygiene
maintenance
was
the

wrong
frequency
of
brushing
teeth
(12.1%),
only
visiting
the
dentist
when
having
a
toothache
(72.9%),

and
smoking
(7.9%).
Oral
health
problems
include
gingival
bleeding
on
brushing
(15.3%),
tooth
mobility

(13.2%),

tooth cavities (62.9%), toothache (27.1%), and bad breath (22.6%). Most of the oral health
problems were tooth cavities followed by toothache. The contributing factors include poor oral hygiene
maintenance, improper brushing, smoking habits, and infrequent dental care. Furthermore, the
accessibility and availability of services in dental practice in the pandemic situation are limited.
Therefore, it is reasonable to say that oral self-examination probably could minimize the distancingrelated
problem
in
this
Covid-19
pandemic
situation
and
be
helpful
in
the
early
detection
of
oral
health

problems.
KEYWORDS: assessment, Covid-19 pandemic, oral health