| ARTICLE |
|
| Year : 2009 | Volume
: 7
| Issue : 13 | Page : 18-24 |
|
|
Knowledge, Attitude and Practice amongst dentists' in Pune towards Primary Preventive Measures for Dental Caries - A Questionnaire Study
Yojana B Patil, Pradnya V Kakodkar, Sahana Hegde-Shetiya
Department of Public Health Dentistry, Dr. D.Y. Patil Dental College and HospitaPune-411018, Maharashtra, India
Correspondence Address:
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
|
|
|
Objectives: The study was carried out to assess knowledge, attitude and practices amongst dentists' in Pune towards primary preventive measures for dental caries.
Materials and methods: Data was collected using a 18 item pre-tested, close ended, self-administered questionnaire. 500, registered dentists' were selected but only 274 dentists' responded (response rate=55%). Chi-square test, ANOVA and regression model was used for statistical analysis.
Results: The mean percentage of correct knowledge was 73.84%, favourable attitude was 75.66% and desirable practise was 82.56%. Overall, the knowledge about use of fluorides, chlorhexidine and importance of parents and siblings caries activity was relatively less. The most unfavourable attitude noted was performing caries activity tests (58.4%) and the most undesirable practice noted was regarding non-prescription of fluoride mouthwash (51.1%) and dentifrices of varying concentration to their patients (52.2%). However, dentists' tended to emphasize more on the effectiveness of brushing (86.5%), recall reinforcement (88.3%) and diet counselling (85.4%). Analysis showed that older graduates were having less knowledge (p=0.004) and unfavorable attitude (p = 0.038) as compared to the recent graduates.
Conclusion: Efforts are needed to enhance the level of knowledge and attitude of dentists and focus on strategies to educate and enforce the use of preventive dentistry. |
|
|
|
| [PDF]* |
|
 |
|
