The aim of this study was to investigate the operating conditions of dentists in Central Europe during the first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown . A survey including 24 questions was emailed to dentists in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and South Tyrol (Italy). Questions regarding dentists ’ field of work, working hours, treatments performed, personal protective equipment and protocols, and economic consequences were asked . 1731 participants were included . 30.4% of participants worked mainly in Austria , 60.8% in Germany , 6% in Switzerland and 2.1% in South Tyrol . A country-specific analysis for the situation of South Tyrol was not possible due to the low participation; 53.7% of German , 45.5% of Austrian, and 11.7% of Swiss respondents reduced their working hours; 42.8% of Austrian , 41.5% of Swiss, and 17.3% of German participants closed their offices temporarily; 52.2% of respondents provided emergency service including pain management, restorations/temporaries, and denture repairs . A lack of access to FFP2/FFP3 (filtering facepiece) respirators was indicated by 59.4% Austrian , 38.0% German, and 11.7% Swiss dentists (p <0.001). FFP2/FFP3 respirators were, when available, most frequently used in Austria (86.9 %), followed by Switzerland (61.2 %) and Germany (56.7 %) (p <0.001). Financial consequences could not be conclusively quantified by 58.6% of the participants . Most respondents in all partaking countries made use of governmental support . A lack of blueprints/guidelines resulted in heterogeneous working conditions . In consideration of a potentially high risk of infection in the dental setting, non-emergency dental treatments were largely suspended in all participating countries.