Public Perception of Dental Health Care during the Covid-19 Pandemic using Teledentistry Surveys

Background: The COVID-19 problem is a world problem and affects all aspects of human life including dental care.

Objective: To find out the public perception of dental care during the pandemic with online interviews using the Teledentistry Survey.

Methods: The researcher determines the sample to be interviewed using the TELKOMSEL provider and chooses a number with the Sulawesi region code, the first number is chosen as the sample number 0821-8801-0295, the next sample is a multiple of 5. This study has received approval from the Ethics Commission of the Faculty of Dentistry, University Hasanuddin with number: #UH 17120346.

Results: There were 88% of the samples experiencing dental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic, namely 24% sprue and 14.% toothache. The actions taken by respondents to overcome dental health problems were 46% self-medicating, 18% online consultation with dentists, 14% untreated, and 12% going to a dental clinic. Their perception that dental health care can cause transmission of the virus as much as 64% and they are afraid to come to the dentist during the pandemic as much as 88%. Overall, only 71.5% of the public knew about dental care problems during the pandemic.

Conclusion: Public perception of dental care knowledge during the COVID-19 pandemic is quite good.

Keyword: Dental Health Care; COVID-19; Teledentistry.