How COVID-19 affected dental services in Fiji

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-06-30 08:00

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COVID-19 has had a big impact on how dental clinics practice, given how the virus spreads, but no research has been done until now about how the pandemic affected services in Fiji. Researchers surveyed almost 50 dental officers and managers in private and public practices in 2021. They report that most Fijian dental clinics they spoke to, except for government ones, were closed during the pandemic and that it took weeks and months for them to open again. Most also saw a drop in patient numbers during the peak days of the pandemic. That said, officers from dental schools and private clinics said the quality of services stayed the same, or even improved, once they resumed services due to there being more organisation and adherence to infection control procedures.