Page 30 - FINAL COMPENDIUM 2020-2021 27.2.2022

IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON THE ATTENDANCE OF SPECIALIST ORAL
HEALTHCARE, MINISTRY OF HEALTH MALAYSIA

Rapeah MY, Harathi D, Fauziah A, Noormi O

Introduction: Specialist Oral Healthcare, Ministry of Health Malaysia include Oral and
Maxillofacial Surgery, Paediatric Dentistry, Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine, Special Care
Dentistry, Forensic Odontology, Orthodontic, Periodontic and Restorative Dentistry.
Movement Control Order was executed by the federal government of Malaysia in
response to the COVID-19 pandemic led to limited dental procedures. Objective: This
study aimed to determine the impact of pandemic COVID-19 on the attendance of
Specialist Oral Healthcare. Materials and methods: Total attendance of all patients from
each dental specialty was traced from secondary data available at Health Information
Management System in a monthly basis from January 2019 to December 2020 January to
May 2021. Dental record for each specialty was named as PG208, PG209, PG 212, PG 213,
PG 215, PG216, PG SND 201 and PG FOD 201 for Orthodontic, Oral and Maxillofacial
Surgery, Periodontic, Paediatric Dentistry, Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine, Restorative
Dentistry, Special Care Dentistry and Forensic Odontology specialty respectively.
Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the trends of patient’s attendance on a monthly
basis during MCO for each specialty accordingly. Results: Total attendance of Specialist
Oral Healthcare decreased by 28.8% in 2020 as compared to 2019 but recovered with
22.5% increase in 2021 (January to May) as compared to 2020 (January to May). By
specialty, attendance decreased 16.6%, 28.5%, 19.1%, 33.7%, 38.7%, 42.8%, and 37.0%
for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Paediatric Dentistry, Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine,
Special Care Dentistry, Orthodontic, Periodontic and Restorative Dentistry respectively.
Total attendance of Forensic Dentistry increased 8.1% in 2020 versus 2019. Conclusion:
Attendance of Specialist Oral Healthcare in Ministry of Health Malaysia decreased by a
third in 2020 during MCO following pandemic COVID-19 compared to 2019. However, it
recovered with the implementation of new norms among personnel, availability of
additional supportive equipment and on-line appointment system.

Keywords: pandemic COVID-19, Movement Control Order, Specialist Oral Healthcare

Poster presentation at the 14 International Conference of Asian Academy of Preventive Dentistry, Daegu, Korea on 1-2
th
October 2021
Dr Rapeah Mohd Yassin
Dr Harathi A/P Dorairaja
Dr Fauziah Ahmad
Dr Noormi Othman
Oral Health Programme
Ministry of Health, Malaysia

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