Evaluation of dentists' stress and anxiety levels in the COVID-19 pandemic

Aim: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can cause stress, anxiety, and fear, especially in healthcare workers as it has a high risk of transmission. The aim of this study was to investigate the levels of stress and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic among dentists working in our country. Methodology: The study included 164 dentists. Sociodemographic data and the stress and anxiety levels of the individuals who participated in the study were recorded. The COVID-19 Stress Scale and the Perceived Stress Scale-10 were used for evaluation of the stress levels, and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 was used to evaluate the anxiety levels. All data were considered statistically significant at p < 0.05. Results: Among those who participated in the study, 112 were women and 52 were men, and 50% of them were 20 to 30 years of age. Based on the information these dentists provided, 63% did not have any expertise and 66% had worked in the normalization process. Their scores in the COVID-19 Stress Scale, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale 7, and Perceived Stress Scale-10 were 64.4 ± 25.2, 5.46 ± 4.8, and 18.8 ± 5.9, respectively, and there was a positive correlation between all scales. When evaluating the stress levels according to gender, it was observed that those of the female dentists were higher than those of the male dentists (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the anxiety levels between the male and female dentists. While there were no significant differences between the dentists who worked during the pandemic process and those who did not work (p > 0.05), the COVID-19 stress levels were found to be lower in the normalization process (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused stress and anxiety in dentists and has affected female dentists more than male dentists. In addition, working during the pandemic process can benefit dentists by helping to reduce the stress caused by the pandemic. How to cite this article: Öncü E, Dinçer NN, Uçan Yarkaç F, Tekin Atay Ü. Evaluation of dentists' stress and anxiety levels in the COVID-19 pandemic. Int Dent Res 2021;11(Suppl.1):259-65. https://doi.org/10.5577/intdentres.2021.vol11.suppl1.38 Linguistic Revision: The English in this manuscript has been checked by at least two professional editors, both native speakers of English.