Patient’s rights to dental treatment - the influence of the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

Aim and objectives: The present study aims is to observe and analyse the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has on patients' right to have access to dental medical services. Both the national quarantine by decreeing the state of national emergency in Romania and the state of alert instituted due to the pandemic had an important impact on patients' appointments for dental procedures. Material and methods: We analyse the statistical data starting from the two groups of patients and follow the main differences that appear due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Group 1-non-pandemic included patients who presented themselves in the office between March 14, 2019 and March 14, 2020 and group 2-pandemic included patients who presented themselves in the office between March 15, 2020 and March 15, 2021. Conclusions: Following this study, we can say that the COVID-19 pandemic has a major impact on patients' right to dental treatment, affecting both access to services medical as well as unjustifiably delaying the treatment of dental pathology.