A Study to Evaluate the Knowledge and Awareness amongst Dental Professionals about COVID-19 Outbreak - A Survey

ABSTRACT

Across the globe, there have been reports which have shown that all the dental professionals and the field of dentistry to be more vulnerable to the coronavirus infection. Dentists in general are comparatively more prone to infections as they are more exposed to aerosols and droplets emerging out of the patient’s oral cavity. This scare of coronavirus has unmasked the crevices in the integration of the dental health care professionals in to the public health care sector of various countries. It has significantly sidelined the dental treatment approach towards the patients and for the dental team as well. At this point, it is very difficult to project and calculate the exact number of cases of Covid-19 carriers or infected who are being treated by dentists. Such a preliminary survey will give us an idea about the precautionary measures that can be taken or being taken in dental practice. The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice amongst dental professionals of different specialties about the Covid-19 and precautionary measures at different levels. METHODSAn online questionnaire based survey was carried out to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice amongst the dental professionals of different specialties about recent Covid 19 pandemic all over the world. A total of 250 participants were sent a survey questionnaire via Google Survey form. The responses were accepted in a 2 week time frame. The survey majorly focused on the clinical practice awareness and precautions taken by the dental professionals at their university / institute / college / private clinics while treating their patients based on which their knowledge and awareness were assessed. Demographic characteristics of study participants and their knowledge, awareness and practice related to Covid-19 were presented using descriptive statistics (mean and frequency distribution). RESULTSTwo hundred and forty-four (97.6 %) out of 250 participants surveyed responded to the questionnaire. Overall awareness amongst dental professionals was seen to be adequate with maximum correct responses received from the Teaching faculty of different institutes. Regarding the precaution level taken at the respective Institute / College / University the average score calculated on the base of responses was 6.92. CONCLUSIONSThe survey concluded that there is a dire need for regular educational interventions regarding the spread of the diseases and infection control at definite intervals. All dental professionals must be well aware of the protection kits available and their appropriate use during patient diagnosis and treatment planning