Oral Health of Completely Edentulous Patients During the Covid-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Their Nutritional Status: A Pilot Study

The COVID-19 pandemic, declared by the WHO on May 2020, has forced governments around the world to adapt several restrictive measures causing difficulties of access to oral healthcare. In Lebanon, a lack of data on these difficulties and their consequences for completely edentulous people prompted the realization of a pilot study evaluating the impact of this pandemic on access to oral healthcare and on the oral health status, oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL), and nutritional status of these individuals. The study was conducted at the Removable Prosthodontics Department of the Faculty of Dentistry at Saint-Joseph University of Beirut through a personal interview including the use of the Lebanese version of the Oral Health Impact Profile for Edentulous Patients (OHIP-EDENT) and the Arabic versions of the Activity of Daily Living index (ADL), and the Mini Nutritional Assessment index (MNA) questionnaires, followed by a clinical examination. Data collection from 17 completely edentulous subjects showed high difficulty in accessing oral healthcare and negative repercussions on their oral health, OHRQoL and nutrition.