Evaluation of the Knowledge and Attitudes of Dental Health Care Workers Regarding the New Coronavirus Disease-2019 Outbreak

Year 2021, Volume: 22 Issue: Special Issue of Dentistry, 62 - 68, 30.01.2021

Ahu Dikilitaş , Fatih Karaaslan , Şehrazat Evirgen

Abstract

Objective: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is contagious through respiratory droplets, close contact and aerosols emitted from high-end instruments. Dentists are at high risk for infection and have become carriers of the disease. Thus, dental health professionals should have sufficient knowledge and a high level of awareness on this issue. This study aimed to investigate the levels of knowledge and awareness about COVID-19 among dentists, students of dentistry and dental nurses.
Materials and Methods: This study included 124 dentists, 122 students of dentistry and 128 nurses. A closed-ended questionnaire was developed with the help of the existing literature. The questionnaire, containing ten questions, was divided into three parts.
Results: Dentists, nurses and students of dentistry had adequate information regarding COVID-19. It was determined that all the participating dentists (100%) and nurses (100%) and most students of dentistry (97.5%) felt threatened by being exposed to COVID-19 infection. A significantly higher proportion of dentists (58.9%) and clinical students (55.7%) compared to nurses (9.4%) believed that using protective equipment during dental practice will not protect them against COVID-19 infection.
Conclusion: Dental health care workers should be trained in the prevention and control of COVID-19, and they should regularly renew these skills to protect themselves against new infections that may occur in the future.

Keywords

Dentistry, coronavirus, infections, knowledge, attitudes

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