ABSTRACT
Background: There are many aspects of COVID-19 that are related to dental practice. Hence, this study aimed to assess the level of awareness of COVID-19 concerning its symptoms, transmission and prevention and the dental implications of its oral manifestations among dentists in Nigeria. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study that sampled dentists who work in Nigeria regardless of their place of work with an online questionnaire using Google forms to collect the data. The questionnaire was anonymous to maintain the privacy and confidentiality of all information collected in the study. The survey was a structured questionnaire divided into three sections: Dentists' demographics, knowledge of the disease and dental implications of COVID-19. Results: This study included 206 dentists practising in Nigeria, with 126 (61.2%) males and 80 (38.8%) females. A total of 191 (92.7%) dentists perceived COVID-19 as highly contagious and deadly. Almost all the participants (n=205, 99.5%) were knowledgeable about the mode of transmission of the disease through respiratory droplets. A total of 204 (99.0%) affirmed that dental practitioners were at risk of becoming infected with COVID-19. About 84.5% reported that salivary glands can serve as a potential reservoir for COVID-19. Conclusion: The awareness of COVID-19 concerning the mode of transmission, symptoms and prevention among the dental professionals was encouraging. This would lead to enhanced infection control in dental settings. The majority of the participants reported that saliva can be used as a promising non-invasive specimen for diagnosis, monitoring and infection control in patients with COVID-19.
ABSTRACT
AIM: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of self-medication practices among dental out patients presenting at a tertiary health care center in Ibadan, and to determine factors that are associated with these practices. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All patients presenting over a 4-month period, who consented to participate in the study, had a semi-structured questionnaire, highlighting age, sex, income and educational qualification, history of past practice of self-medication, substances used and reasons for resorting to self-medication administered to them. Data obtained were analyzed with the SPSS 12.0.1 software. Frequency tables were generated and statistical relationship between the variables was analyzed using the Chi-square test. Statistical significance was set at P>0.05. RESULTS: There were 108 (38.03%) males and 176 (61.97%) females. A total of 139 (48.9%) of the respondents claimed that they have been involved in self-medication. 54.7% of the people involved in self-medication were female, while 41.7% were male. There was a statistically significant difference in self-medication between males and females (P=0.001). 71.2% of the respondents had post-secondary education and only 28.8% had secondary education or less. CONCLUSION: Self-medication practices were quite high in this study, and these practices were also prevalent among the educated people. Drug control enforcement needs to be intensified and dental public health education needs to be given greater priority in the overall public health campaigns.
