Dentists’ knowledge, attitudes, and professional behavior toward the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background COVID-19 continues to impact the dental community worldwide. The authors conducted a cross sectional electronic study to examine dentists’ knowledge, attitudes and professional behavior towards COVID-19 and the impact on their livelihood through a multi-site survey. Methods A questionnaire was circulated by electronic mail and social media platforms to dentists in North America, Europe, Eastern Mediterranean and Western Pacific regions. It covered demographic characteristics and questions on COVID-19 outbreak related to dentists’ level of comfort on preventive and safety measures, provision of treatment, impact on work and financial implications. Responses were tabulated and analyzed by chi-square or exact Fisher test. Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to compare means. A P-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results A total of 1,251dentists responded. General dentists represented (63.9%) of the population and (62.5%) worked in private practice. On the level of comfortable with the preventive measures and provisions of treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic, the global score was low (14/30), and the differences between regions were significant (P <0.01), dentists working in private practice and general dental practitioners were less comfortable (P<0.01). Conclusions and Practical Implications Respondents surveyed demonstrated a lack of preparedness to confront a highly infectious respiratory disease. A new level of protective armamentarium in the dental operatory and updated operational guidance and policies are required, necessitating educators and regulators to ensure the delivery of knowledge and skills to oral healthcare providers. Dentists need to address the sustainability of their practices and have a robust business plan.

The Impact of the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Providing Special Care Dentistry: A Survey for Dentists

“…In addition, 86% of respondents reported a reduction in or closure of general anesthesia or deep sedation dental services. Likewise, in a questionnaire-based study to evaluate general dentists’ responses globally, most respondents (80%) also indicated that their workplaces were closed as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak [ 19 ].…”

“…The etiological agent responsible for this outbreak was a new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) [2], which the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses labeled Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). On the 11 of February 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially termed this new disease Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID- 19) and only a month later declared the COVID-19 pandemic [3]. By the 9 of February 2021, the COVID-19 epidemic had spread to 255 countries and caused 106.1 million confirmed cases and over 2.3 million deaths, according to the WHO [4].…”

Implementation of COVID-19 Infection Control Measures by German Dentists: A Qualitative Study to Identify Enablers and Barriers

“…The resulting insights allow a deep understanding of barriers and enablers to implementation both on an emotional but also a factual level. Notably, our findings can be triangulated with those of quantitative evaluations (e.g., from surveys), which highlighted that knowledge on COVID-19 increased with time and was generally not the main barrier for ICM in more recent surveys; that the adoption of PPE varied widely and that some PPE, such as face shields and FFP2-masks, were not implemented regularly; that there was uncertainty regarding how to adapt practice infrastructure and organization to reduce infection risks and that, generally, the specific setting was associated with the implementation of measures [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]. Our study now adds insights as to why all these observations were made.…”

“…While the knowledge on COVID-19 has increased over the course of the pandemic, the majority of dentists have not yet implemented all recommended measures. A few dentists aimed to exceed recommendations or legal minimum standards [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]. It is, however, not clear why implementation differs between measures, dentists and settings.…”

Determinants of knowledge and prevention measures towards COVID-19 pandemic among Lebanese dentists: a cross sectional survey

“…On the other hand, around half of the participants accepted to treat patients with flu like symptoms and patients with known or suspected COVID-19 infection. Most of dentists from previous studies mainly conducted in the early period of the COVID-19 outbreak prefer not to treat patients with COVID-19 [ 18 , 22 , 27 , 28 ]. This was expected as many guidelines stated that only emergency interventions to be performed, with rescheduling of the elective treatment procedures [ 7 , 9 ].…”