Evaluation of Dentists' Awareness of The COVID-19 Pandemic, Attitudes, and Behaviors Regarding Infection Control, and Anxiety Levels by Specialty and Gender

Year 2021, Volume: 2 Issue: 4, 67 - 84, 30.12.2021

Pelin Gökalp Kalabay Mustafa Haluk İşeri

Abstract

Aim: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, poses a major threat to
healthcare professionals. This study aims to evaluate knowledge
levels about the Covid-19 pandemic, attitudes towards infection
control in dental clinics and behavior, and levels of anxiety about
Covid-19 in terms of dentists and to reveal the differences between gender and specialties.
Material and Methods : A total of 450 dentists were included in
the study. Socio-demographic data, awareness of the Covid-19
pandemic, attitudes and behaviors regarding infection control in
dental clinics, and anxiety levels about Covid-19 of dentists were
recorded using an online questionnaire. All statistical analyzes
were conducted with IBM SPSS 25.0 program.
Results: It was observed that female dentists were more afraid
when they heard about death rates related to COVID-19. The
questioning of patients with respiratory problems such as cough
and difficulty breathing and questioning whether patients have
attended any recent meeting or rendezvous were observed more
frequently in female dentists. (p<0.001). It was determined
that those who postpone treating the patient in suspected cases
are mostly non-specialist dentists. It is observed that specialist
dentists are more aware of issues such as using anti-microbial
mouthwash usage, applying rubber dam isolation, using (surgical) suction with high suction power to patients before dental
procedures. (p<0.001).
Discussion and Conclusions: Since dentists are in an occupational group with a high risk of exposure to infectious diseases,
they must consider every patient as an infected individual and be
very careful about taking standard precautions against infectious
diseases.

Keywords

covid-19, dentistry, dental hygiene, anxiety, awareness

Evaluation of Dentists' Awareness of The COVID-19 Pandemic, Attitudes, and Behaviors Regarding Infection Control, and Anxiety Levels by Specialty and Gender

Abstract

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