Impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the sustainability of dental practice: National-Dental-PBRN

 Jeffrey L Fellows, Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, Portland, OR, presented the “Impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the Sustainability of Dental Practice: National-Dental-PBRN” at the hybrid 51st Annual Meeting & Exhibition of the AADOCR, held in conjunction with the 46th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research (CADR), online and onsite in Atlanta, GA, on March 24, 2022.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic adversely impacted US dental practitioners’ patient volumes, revenues, and practice expenses associated with efforts to reduce virus transmission at dental facilities. As part of the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network (Network) COVID-19 Research (CORE) Registry study, Fellows evaluated dental practitioner’s confidence that their practice could maintain current patient volume, revenues, and expenditures on SARS-CoV-2 risk mitigation over the 24 months. The protocol and study materials were approved by Central and Regional Node National Dental Practice-Based Research Network IRBs.

Between January and February 2021 the researchers invited 5,484 eligible US dentists, dental hygienists, and therapists enrolled in the Network to complete a 195-item web-based survey via weekly emails and personal outreach.

The results of the study demonstrated that network practitioners overall were somewhat to moderately confident about the sustainability of their practice over the next 24 months. Private practice general dentists and academic/hospital-based specialists had the lowest confidence levels.

This research was presented as an in-person Interactive Talk on March 24, 2022 at 8 a.m. EDT, view the abstract on the 2022 Annual Meeting Hybrid Platform.

 

About AADOCR

The American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research (AADOCR) is a nonprofit organization with over 3,000 members in the United States with a mission to drive dental, oral, and craniofacial research to advance health and well-being. AADOCR is the largest division of the International Association for Dental Research which has over 10,000 members. Learn more at www.aadocr.org.