292 - Covid-19 Pre-Procedural Testing: Extent of Impact on Delivery ofCare for General Anesthesia Dental Procedures in Rhode Island

Friday, May 26, 2023

3:20 PM – 3:35 PM

Location: Exhibit Hall

Has Audio

Presenting Author(s)

Logan Wilson, DMD (he/him/his)

PGY2 Pediatric Dental Resident
NYU Langone Hospitals
NYU Langone Hospitals
Providence, Rhode Island, United States

Research Mentor(s)

AY

Amir Yavari, DMD

Associate Director
NYU Langone
Brooklyn, New York, United States

Program Director(s)

DK

Daniel J. Kane, DMD

Program Director
NYU Langone Dental Medicine, Brooklyn, NY
Brooklyn, New York, United States

Purpose: To analyze trends in operating room appointment cancellations as a result of either positive Covid-19 test result or failure to complete required testing prior to scheduled appointment for comprehensive dentistry under general anesthesia.

Methods: A retrospective chart review of cancelled cases from August 2020 through March 2022 at a community hospital in Rhode Island was conducted to investigate how many cases were cancelled due to either positive covid test result or failure to obtain required testing prior to procedure. Delay in treatment resulting from cancellation and trends within the data set were also examined.

Results: During the study period 59 patients had their appointments cancelled due to requirements summarized by study parameters. During this period, 538 total general anesthesia cases were completed, meaning that 11% of appointments during the study period were cancelled due to Covid-19 pre-procedural testing requirements. 10 cancellations in the study population (2% of total cases) were due to positive covid test and 49 (9% of total cases) were due to not obtaining the covid test. Of the 59 cancelled appointments, 18 patients rescheduled and 41 were lost to follow-up. 50% of rescheduled patients were seen within 1 month of initial cancellation.

Conclusions: Testing protocols implemented in response to Covid-19 were associated with 59 (11%) appointment cancellations during the study period. 10 (2%) patients tested positive, leaving 49 (9%) with cancelled appointments due to increased pre-operative requirements. 41 patients (8%) failed to reschedule care after appointment cancellation. 118 hours of chair-side dental delivery time were lost due to OR appointment cancellations, but it would have only taken 3 cases of patient-to-provider Covid-19 contraction to result a greater loss of dental service hours due to quarantine guidelines.