Reason for Tooth Extraction During Pandemic COVID-19 in Military Hospital, Ambon Indonesia

Introduction: Most dental clinics have limited dental procedures because of the risk of SARS-CoV2 transmission during the pandemic. In some cases, tooth extraction may potentially generate droplets and aerosols. Objective: To determine the characteristics of tooth extraction before and throughout the early COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The data were collected from medical records at the dental clinic of Prof. Dr. J.A.Latumeten Military Hospital, Ambon, Indonesia, and split into two time periods–before the pandemic group (January 2019-March 2020) and early pandemic group (April 2020-August 2021). The collected data included gender, age, tooth type, and diagnosis. Results: The total number of patients before and during the early pandemic was 752 and 517, respectively. Patients under the age of 19 had the highest rate of tooth extraction both before (31.2%) and during the early pandemic (39.7%). Males accounted for 64% and 60.2% of all patients before and during the early pandemic. Molars were the most often extracted teeth before (55.8%) and during the early pandemic (62.3%). The major cause of tooth extraction before the pandemic was necrosis of pulp (41.6%), while pulpitis (45.7%) was the leading cause of extraction during the early pandemic. Conclusion: At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, pulpitis was observed as the most often cause of tooth extraction, with a lower number of patients having extractions compared to the pre-pandemic period, indicating an altered patients’ approach to dental treatment as a result of the pandemic.