Knowledge and Apprehension of Dental Health Professionals Pertaining to COVID in Southern India: A Questionnaire Study

Izna; Venkata Krishna Sasank Kuntamukkula; Shilpa Sunil Khanna; Onkar Salokhe; Rahul Vinay Chandra Tiwari; Heena Tiwari

doi:10.4103/jpbs.JPBS_551_20

Knowledge and Apprehension of Dental Health Professionals Pertaining to COVID in Southern India: A Questionnaire Study

J Pharm Bioallied Sci. 2021 Jun;13(Suppl 1):S448-S451. doi: 10.4103/jpbs.JPBS_551_20. Epub 2021 Jun 5.

Authors

Izna¹, Venkata Krishna Sasank Kuntamukkula², Shilpa Sunil Khanna³, Onkar Salokhe⁴, Rahul Vinay Chandra Tiwari⁵, Heena Tiwari⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Microbiology, Government Medical College and Associated Hospital, Rajauri, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
² Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Sri Sai College of Dental Surgery, Vikarabad, Telangana, India.
³ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Sri Ramakrishna Dental College and Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
⁴ Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopeadics, Vasantdada Patil Dental College, Sangli, Maharashtra, India.
⁵ Department of OMFS, Narsinbhai Patel Dental College and Hospital, Sankalchand Patel University, Visnagar, Gujarat, India.
⁶ BDS, PGDHHM, CHC, Makdi, Chhattisgarh, India.

Abstract

Aim: This study was intended to evaluate the knowledge and apprehension of dental health professionals pertaining to COVID-19.

Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional survey, a self-administered questionnaire survey was used to validate the dental health professional's knowledge and apprehension pertaining to COVID-19. In this regard, a preliminary study with a convenience sample of 124 dentists working in various clinics in southern India was conducted so as to evaluate the knowledge and apprehension of dentists related to COVID-19 in India. This study, while limited in sample size, benefits the general practitioners as target readers to assess the awareness pertaining to COVID-19.

Results: The results of this study reveal that there exists a good knowledge among dental health professionals pertaining to the COVID-19 virus and its oral manifestations in addition to the precautions to be taken for the prevention of COVID-19 in a clinical setup. However, there exists an apprehension as well as lack of awareness pertaining to the laboratory test to be carried out in a patient suspected with COVID-19 infections as well as the role of a mouthwash and the management of contaminated air in the dental clinic.

Conclusion: The results elicited that there is a dearth of knowledge and relatively a fair apprehension among dental health professionals pertaining to COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; dentists; oral manifestations.