PMID- 34505495 OWN - Quintessenz Verlags-GmbH CI - Copyright Quintessenz Verlags-GmbH OCI - Copyright Quintessenz Verlags-GmbH TA - Oral Health Prev Dent JT - Oral Health and Preventive Dentistry IS - 1757-9996 (Electronic) IP - 1 VI - 19 PST - epublish DP - 2021 PG - 411-423 LA - en TI - Effects of Coronavirus (COVID-19) Fear on Oral Health Status LID - 10.3290/j.ohpd.b1870377 [doi] FAU - Sari, Aysegul AU - Sari A FAU - Bilmez, Zuhal Yildirim AU - Bilmez Z CN - OT - Coronavirus OT - dental diseases OT - fear OT - habits OT - oral health AB - Purpose: To investigate the effects of COVID-19 fear on oral health status. Materials and Methods: A total of 1227 participants were enrolled in the study. The online survey link was circulated and responses were received. The questionnaire comprised a total of 24 closed-ended questions, which were divided into three sections. The first section focused on demographic information, the second section on the fear of COVID-19, and the third section focused on oral hygiene habits, dental complaints, and tendency to go to the dentist during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: Participants who had a higher fear score compared to other respective populations during the corona virus pandemic started brushing more regularly, started to use oral care products more regularly (p = 0.001), increased sugary food consumption (p = 0.001), increased meat consumption (p = 0.017), increased vegetable consumption (p = 0.019), had increased tooth hypersensitivity, had increased toothache, had increased swelling/abscess on face due to tooth decay (p = 0.001), had increased restoration failures, had increased problems with prostheses (p = 0.007), had increased bleeding and pain in the periodontal tissue, had increased oral malodor, had increased bruxism (p = 0.001), had a dental problem but hesitated to visit a dentist, and thought that dental clinics are at risk of COVID-19 contamination (p = 0.001). Conclusion: Fear of COVID-19 was higher in participants who started to pay more attention to their oral hygiene habits, had a change in food consumption frequency and rate, had an increase in oral and dental health complaints, and had dental problems but hesitated to visit a dentist. AID - 1870377