Resilience of dental service system to emerging and reemerging diseases crisis in the future: Lesson learned from COVID-19 Response in Nonthaburi Province

Abstract

Negative impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic reflect the limited preparedness and capacity of health system in dealing with emerging and reemerging infectious diseases crises. Disrupted dental services and worsening oral health problems demonstrate restricted resilience of oral health system in preparing, resisting, coping, adapting and recovering to such catastrophe. This study aims to examine the response of dental service systems in Nonthaburi Province to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study used mixed methods i.e. reviewed dental service data and epidemiology and interviewed selected stakeholders of dental service systems in Nonthaburi Province and later conducted focus group discussions to finetune the findings and recommendations. Results showed 3 patterns in the COVID-19 pandemic response: Resisting, Adapting and Recovering models. Nonthaburi had a relatively agile oral health care system with adaptive practices based on recommended guidelines from both formal and informal sources, adapted to local authorization and epidemiological conditions. Improvement of oral service infrastructures and human resources capacity are evident. Dental services, under three conditions: providers, users, and system, have become the new normal. Opportunities for development include strengthening oral health information system and capacity building to fill emerging roles, such as auditing and maintaining system preparedness and coordinating with both public and private sectors. This study provides rudimentary recommendations to address vulnerabilities and capacity of oral health system at both national and provincial/facility levels.