The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dentist manpower in Taiwan

Background/purpose: The dentists are the high-risk group of infectious respiratory diseases during dental treatment. This study investigated the changes of the numbers of overall practicing dentists, dental clinics, and hospital dentists in Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and methods:...

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Main Authors: Feng-Chou Cheng, Ling-Hsia Wang, Julia Yu-Fong Chang, Tzu-Chiang Lin, Tsui-Hua Liu, Po-Fang Tsai, Yung-Ta Chang, Chun-Pin Chiang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2021-10-01
Series:Journal of Dental Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1991790221000416
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spelling doaj-b0c4318c98634ddf82cfac9cdfeb61922021-08-24T04:07:14ZengElsevierJournal of Dental Sciences1991-79022021-10-0116412041213The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dentist manpower in TaiwanFeng-Chou Cheng0Ling-Hsia Wang1Julia Yu-Fong Chang2Tzu-Chiang Lin3Tsui-Hua Liu4Po-Fang Tsai5Yung-Ta Chang6Chun-Pin Chiang7School of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, TaiwanCenter for the Literature and Art, Hsin Sheng Junior College of Medical Care and Management, Taoyuan, TaiwanDepartment of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Oral Biology, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Clinical Dentistry, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, TaiwanCenter for the Liberal Arts, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung, TaiwanSchool of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, TaiwanGraduate Institute of Humanities in Medicine, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, TaiwanSchool of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan; Corresponding author. School of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, No. 88, Sec. 4, Ting-Chou Road, Taipei 11677, Taiwan.Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Oral Biology, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Clinical Dentistry, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Dentistry, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Hualien, Taiwan; Corresponding author. Department of Dentistry, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, No. 707, Section 3, Chung-Yang Road, Hualien 970, Taiwan.Background/purpose: The dentists are the high-risk group of infectious respiratory diseases during dental treatment. This study investigated the changes of the numbers of overall practicing dentists, dental clinics, and hospital dentists in Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and methods: We collected the data of the numbers of overall practicing dentists, dental clinics, and hospital dentists in each city and county of Taiwan in October 2019, April 2020, and October 2020 for evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dentist manpower in Taiwan. Results: After the COVID-19 outbreak, the total increased numbers of practicing dentists, dental clinics, and hospital dentists in Taiwan were 408, 14, and −16 from October 2019 to October 2020, respectively. In addition, their increased rates of the corresponding items were 2.76%, 0.21%, and −0.72%, respectively. The increased rate of practicing dentists from October 2019 to April 2020 was significantly higher than that of dental clinics (P < 0.001) and that of hospital dentists (P < 0.001). Moreover, the increased rate of practicing dentists from October 2019 to October 2020 was significantly higher than that of dental clinics (P < 0.01). Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the increased number of practicing dentists is not different from that in the past, but the increased numbers and rates of dental clinics and hospital dentists are lower than those in the past. This indicates that the willingness of dentists to open new dental clinics or work in hospitals reduces due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1991790221000416COVID-19 pandemicDentist manpowerPracticing dentistsDental clinicsHospital dentists
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Feng-Chou Cheng
Ling-Hsia Wang
Julia Yu-Fong Chang
Tzu-Chiang Lin
Tsui-Hua Liu
Po-Fang Tsai
Yung-Ta Chang
Chun-Pin Chiang
spellingShingle Feng-Chou Cheng
Ling-Hsia Wang
Julia Yu-Fong Chang
Tzu-Chiang Lin
Tsui-Hua Liu
Po-Fang Tsai
Yung-Ta Chang
Chun-Pin Chiang
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dentist manpower in Taiwan
Journal of Dental Sciences
COVID-19 pandemic
Dentist manpower
Practicing dentists
Dental clinics
Hospital dentists
author_facet Feng-Chou Cheng
Ling-Hsia Wang
Julia Yu-Fong Chang
Tzu-Chiang Lin
Tsui-Hua Liu
Po-Fang Tsai
Yung-Ta Chang
Chun-Pin Chiang
author_sort Feng-Chou Cheng
title The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dentist manpower in Taiwan
title_short The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dentist manpower in Taiwan
title_full The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dentist manpower in Taiwan
title_fullStr The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dentist manpower in Taiwan
title_full_unstemmed The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dentist manpower in Taiwan
title_sort impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the dentist manpower in taiwan
publisher Elsevier
series Journal of Dental Sciences
issn 1991-7902
publishDate 2021-10-01
description Background/purpose: The dentists are the high-risk group of infectious respiratory diseases during dental treatment. This study investigated the changes of the numbers of overall practicing dentists, dental clinics, and hospital dentists in Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and methods: We collected the data of the numbers of overall practicing dentists, dental clinics, and hospital dentists in each city and county of Taiwan in October 2019, April 2020, and October 2020 for evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dentist manpower in Taiwan. Results: After the COVID-19 outbreak, the total increased numbers of practicing dentists, dental clinics, and hospital dentists in Taiwan were 408, 14, and −16 from October 2019 to October 2020, respectively. In addition, their increased rates of the corresponding items were 2.76%, 0.21%, and −0.72%, respectively. The increased rate of practicing dentists from October 2019 to April 2020 was significantly higher than that of dental clinics (P < 0.001) and that of hospital dentists (P < 0.001). Moreover, the increased rate of practicing dentists from October 2019 to October 2020 was significantly higher than that of dental clinics (P < 0.01). Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the increased number of practicing dentists is not different from that in the past, but the increased numbers and rates of dental clinics and hospital dentists are lower than those in the past. This indicates that the willingness of dentists to open new dental clinics or work in hospitals reduces due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
topic COVID-19 pandemic
Dentist manpower
Practicing dentists
Dental clinics
Hospital dentists
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1991790221000416
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