Knowledge and Attitude of Dental Practitioners Related to Disinfection during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The world is currently facing a pandemic crisis due to a novel coronavirus. For this purpose, acquiring updated knowledge regarding prevention and disinfection during the current pandemic is necessary for every dental practitioner. In our study, we aimed to evaluate globally the level of knowledge and the attitude of dental practitioners related to disinfection. A total of 385 participants out of 401 participants from 23 different countries across the world were included in the final analysis after the exclusion of incomplete responses. The majority of the dentists who responded were females (53.8%) and were practicing at private health institutes (36.4%). The mean knowledge score of the participants was estimated to be 4.19 ± 1.88 out of 12, reflecting insufficient knowledge, and the mean attitude score of the participants was estimated to be 12.24 ± 3.23 out of 15, which shows a positive attitude toward disinfection practices during coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). Thus, the current study indicated a lack of knowledge in fundamental aspects of disinfection protocols with a significant and positive attitude from dental health professionals toward disinfection regarding the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

<p>Factors Associated with Infection-Control Behavior of Dental Health–Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior</p>

“…Recent studies in a similar study population are in accordance with this and substantiate that the DHCWs in Saudi Arabia have an acceptable level of knowledge about COVID-19. [17][18][19] This is also supported by a study conducted by Nguyen et al in 2019. 20 In their report, the strongest relationship with intentions was demonstrated by knowledge and attitudes.…”

Pivoting Dental Practice Management during the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Systematic Review

“…It produced 1066 articles, out of which only six articles demonstrated our objective question. Out of six articles, three assessed knowledge, attitude, and awareness of dentists towards the COVID-19 pandemic [32][33][34][35]. One study assessed the risk of aerosol transmission in a dental setup [19], and another demonstrated the psychological impact of dentists towards COVID-19 [36].…”

“…A more recent study related to disinfection knowledge, attitude, and practices among dental professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic globally found that almost 50% failed to correctly indicate surface disinfectant as an effective measure against COVID-19 [35]. The study also found inconsistent knowledge regarding the stability of SARS-CoV-2 on different surfaces, and the majority of dental providers believed chlorhexidine to be an effective preprocedural mouth rinse against SARS-CoV-2 [35].…”

“…Another survey of Italian dental practitioners assessing the perceived risk of aerosol contamination during the COVID-19 pandemic found that the majority (70%) of dentists believed fine-aerosol-producing treatments to be of increased risk [19]. A more recent study related to disinfection knowledge, attitude, and practices among dental professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic globally found that almost 50% failed to correctly indicate surface disinfectant as an effective measure against COVID-19 [35]. The study also found inconsistent knowledge regarding the stability of SARS-CoV-2 on different surfaces, and the majority of dental providers believed chlorhexidine to be an effective preprocedural mouth rinse against SARS-CoV-2 [35].…”

“…The role of local authorities in providing procedural guidelines in the face of the pandemic is vital to help healthcare providers in making informed decisions. As identified in this review, adequate knowledge of the incubation period, routes of transmission, adequate use of PPE, and disinfection protocols are essential to curb the chain of transmission and safely treat suspected/confirmed COVID-19 patients [19,29,[32][33][34][35][36].…”