Rise in routine dental check-up post Covid, say Pune doctors

Dentists from the city are reporting a rise in patients coming for routine check-ups

Dentists from the city are reporting a rise in patients coming for routine check-ups. During Covid many patients postponed their visits to dentists. Majority of the problems faced by patients were related to gums, missing teeth, followed by root canal treatment and crowns. Untreated dental caries in permanent teeth was the most common findings according to doctors.

Dentists from the city are reporting a rise in patients coming for routine check-ups. During Covid many patients postponed their visits to dentists. (REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE)

Dr Vikas Pol, a city-based dentist said, “As we are going back to the pre-pandemic stage, many patients have opted to come for regular dental check-ups. There is certainly more awareness about dental issues and hygiene and many patients have learnt in the pandemic to not put dental issues on hold.”

Dr Rahul Reddy, head, clinical operation excellence, Apollo Dental said that during Covid, many dental patients did not go for check-ups due to the risk of getting contaminated, hence, most of the non-elective procedures like scaling, fillings and cosmetics treatments took a back seat.

“Post Covid wave most of the people who required dental service started taking appointments. Moreover, many understood the hygiene and health service which are essential to lead a happy life. In terms of numbers, people stepping into dental clinics have risen sharply. Walk-ins have increased as we see that there was an urgency among patients for dental service,” said Dr Reddy.

He added that the most common presenting complaint of the patients (40.7%) was sensitivity and food lodgement in upper and lower posterior teeth.

“Good side of the Covid-19 was that it made awareness about health and hygiene. Majority of the problems are related to gums, missing teeth, followed by root canal treatment and crowns,” said Dr Reddy.

Dr Minal Salvi, another city-based dentist said that non-emergency dental cases were postponed by many patients post pandemic outbreak. “Now since everyone is getting back to normalcy, we have seen more patients visiting us for regular dental issues as well for preventive dental checks,” said Dr Salvi.