Since its emergence in China, the COVID-19 pandemic has become the number 1 health
challenge in the world with all affected countries trying to learn from each other’s
experiences. When it comes to health services, dental care does not seem to be a priority
area, despite the fact that it is among the highest risk medical specialisations in
terms of spreading the infection. Using the Department of Community Dentistry of Semmelweis
University as a case study, the objective of this paper is to introduce and analyze
the system and organizational level measures, which have been implemented in dental
care in Hungary during the first months of the COVID-19 outbreak. The system level
measures to promote social distancing, to reduce the use of health services and to
protect high risk health professionals, together with the deployment of protective
equipment and the reorganization of patient pathways at the organizational level proved
to be effective in keeping the outbreak in control. There are two, less frequently
mentioned ingredients of successful coping with the COVID-19 challenge. First, mental
health support is at least as important as physical protection. Second, most of the
interventions do not require big financial investments, but behavioural change, which
in turn requires leadership and change management skills.
