@article{article_1552791, title={Investigation of Turkish periodontists’ attitudes and behaviors during COVID-19 pandemic: A questionnaire survey}, journal={European Journal of Research in Dentistry}, volume={8}, pages={122–129}, year={2024}, DOI={10.29228/erd.82}, author={Özen, Bensu and Güngörmek, Hatice Selin and Kuru, Leyla}, keywords={COVID-19 Pandemic, Periodontists, questionnaire}, abstract={Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the possible COVID-19 changes in the attitudes and behaviors of Turkish periodontists in clinical practice during the pandemic.
Materials and methods: A 21-question survey form created on Google Form was used as a collection tool. 126 volunteer periodontists, to whom survey link was sent, gave a full response between January and March, 2021. While number and percentage values were calculated for descriptive statistics, chi-square test was used to compare categorical between groups.
Results: This online study included 126 Turkish periodontists. Regarding the frequency of use of protective equipment in clinical procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase of 100 % in the use of FFP/3 and FFP/2 masks, 60.32 % in the use of goggles was observed. The group of periodontists with 20 years or more of professional experience increased the use of goggles compared to both the groups of periodontists with 0-5 years and 5-10 years of experience (p<0.05). The frequency of antibiotic, anti-inflammatory and analgesic prescription did not change during COVID-19 pandemic. However, male periodontists reported prescribing antibiotics more often than female periodontists in the presence of pus outflow and in the treatment of periodontal abscess (p<0.05). Conclusion: Despite the implementation of enhanced personal protection measures by Turkish periodontologists in response to the ongoing pandemic, there has been a persistence in the frequency of medication prescription, which is guided by scientific knowledge and clinical experience.}, number={3}, publisher={Marmara University}