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Objective: Corona virus disease is a serious acute respiratory infection that has spread worldwide. The aim of this survey study was to evaluate the knowledge levels, attitudes, and approaches of dentists in Turkey and to investigate the infection control measures applied by the dentists in the dental clinics regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: This survey consisted of 27 questions and was conducted in May 2020. The questionnaire, which was distributed online to the participants through their personal accounts, included questions about the socio-demographic characteristics of the participants, their knowledge and awareness of COVID-19 infection, their approach to dental procedures before and during the pandemic, and the control measures they took in dental clinics. The collected data were subjected to statistical analysis using Chi-square tests and P values of < 0.05 were accepted as statistically significant.Results: Eight hundred twenty-eight dentists completed the questionnaire forming a response rate of 51.8%. The majority of the participants demonstrated a high level of knowledge and awareness regarding COVID-19. The statistical analysis showed that there was no association between the gender of dentists and the applied infection control measures (P > 0.05), while there were significant associations between the health sectors and experience years with the infection control measures (P < 0.05). Conclusion:These results demonstrated an adequate level of knowledge regarding COVID-19 among dentists in Turkey. Additionally, the rate of using personal protective equipment during dental treatment was high.

This study aimed to evaluate the amount of apically extruded debris caused by different NiTi files. One hundred mandibular premolars were included in this study. The specimens were divided into five groups (n = 20): (i) TruNatomy, (ii) WaveOne Gold, (iii) 2Shape, (iv) ProTaper Next and (v) Reciproc Blue. The extruded debris was collected into preweighed Eppendorf tubes. These tubes were weighed again, and the net weight of debris was calculated. Data were statistically analysed, and the significance level was set at 5%. The least amount of extruded debris was observed in the TruNatomy group (p < 0.05). Statistically significant differences were not found among (iii), (iv) and (v) groups (p > 0.05). However, these groups resulted in significantly higher amounts of debris when compared to (i) and (ii) groups (p < 0.05). The results lead us to conclude that all instrumentation systems caused apical extrusion of debris at varying weights.

This research aimed to examine the impact of NaOCl and Irritrol solutions with/without autoclave sterilisation on the cyclic fatigue resistance of ProTaper, WaveOne Gold and Reciproc NiTi files. Seventy files in every group were separated into seven subgroups (n = 10) according to irrigation solutions and sterilisation procedures. The mean and standard deviations of the time to fracture was calculated for each group, and the data statistical analysis was performed (P ≤ 0.05). Significantly higher cyclic fatigue resistance was found in Reciproc files than the other types of files. The differences between the control and other subgroups were found to be statistically insignificant (P > 0.05), except for subgroups 5 and 7 (P ≤ 0.05). Immersing NiTi files in NaOCl or Irritrol with sterilisation for three times considerably reduced the cyclic fatigue resistance of these files. Reciproc files exhibited the highest cyclic fatigue resistance in comparison with ProTaper and WaveOne Gold files.

BACKGROUND Covid-19 is a severe acute respiratory infection spreading worldwide. Sufficient dentists’ knowledge, attitudes and correct practices are crucial for the prevention of Covid-19 in Saudi Arabia and all other countries. The objectives of this study were to understand the levels of knowledge, awareness and attitude of dentists in Saudi Arabia regarding Covid-19, and to investigate their treatment approaches in dental practices both before and during the pandemic. METHODS This questionnaire was prepared in May 2020 and distributed to dentists working in Saudi Arabia who were members at the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties and Saudi Dental Society. In order to pick the study subjects from our sampling frame, a simple random sampling methodology was used. The questionnaire comprised of a series of questions pertaining to sociodemographic characteristics, the knowledge and attitudes of dentists toward Covid-19, and dental approach before and during the pandemic. The data was statistically analysed to determine any significant association between the dentists’ workplace and the measures followed in the dental clinic (P < 0.05). RESULTS Four hundred and twelve dentists completed the questionnaire forming a response rate of 52 %. The majority of dentists showed a high level of knowledge, attitude and awareness regarding Covid-19. There was an association between the workplace and preventive measures in the dental clinic (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS The majority of dentists in this survey had high knowledge and awareness of Covid19. Most of them followed the recommended preventive measures in their clinics. As Saudi Arabia still suffers from outbreaks of Covid-19 infection, continuous assessment of dentists’ knowledge and practice is crucial. KEY WORDS Covid-19, Dentist, SARS-CoV-2, Saudi Arabia