Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused series of lockdown in Malaysia which led to the significant financial impact to dental practitioner in Malaysia. Objectives: The aim of this study is to investigate factors affecting dental practice and its implication to financial situation during the pandemic in Malaysia. Methods: Registered Malaysian dental practitioners were invited to participate in online questionnaire via google form. Descriptive and Pearson’s chi-square test analysis were conducted (p<0.05). Results: 468 of dental practitioners had responded to our survey. More than three-quarter of dental practitioners worked in government sectors while almost a quarter worked in private sectors. 49.2% of respondents opened for emergency cases only during movement control order (MCO), 42.1 % of them limit for dental emergency, appointment-based cases and non-aerosol generated procedure during Conditional MCO and 62.5% operated as usual following a strict standard operating procedure during Recovery MCO. More than three quarter of private dental practitioners indicated that pandemic affected their daily monetary income (p<0.001) while most of them had to spend other source of income (p=0.004). All working sectors dictated that the working volume and number of patients had statistically decrease (p<0.05). Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on the practice of dentistry and financial position especially for private dental practitioners. Major government assistance is important to reduce the burden of dental practitioner and preserving their future practice.

Following the COVID-19 outbreak, the World Health Organization issued provisional guidelines to address considerations for essential oral health services in the pandemic situation. Compliance with the guidelines is essential to curb the potential spread of infection within a dental practice. This study aimed to assess the perception of Malaysian dental practitioners towards exercising the provisional COVID-19 dental practice guideline during the early phase of the pandemic. A self-administered questionnaire of a structured type consisting of demographic information and dentist perceptions of the provisional guidelines of dental care during the COVID-19 outbreak was distributed online from May 2021 until August 2021 through various social networking platforms among dental practitioners working at different healthcare sectors in all states in Malaysia. A total of 468 dental practitioners responded to this study. More than three-quarters of the respondents were working in public dental care facilities (76.3%, n=357). The majority of respondents adhered to the provisional guidelines issued during the pandemic outbreak and exhibited a change in standard clinical practice (p<0.001). Dental practitioners working in public sectors perceive that swab tests prior to dental appointments should be mandatory, the reopening of dental clinics increases the risk of spread and the provisional guidelines of COVID-19 in dental practice will be changed in the future compared to private dental practitioners (p<0.001). The majority of dental practitioners in Malaysia have complied with the provisional guidelines imposed by the health bodies. As the COVID-19 virus will persist and become endemic in our communities, it is important to balance the safety issue and patient oral health needs