MATERIALS AND METHODS: A survey on dentists' knowledge and their practices in prevention and early detection of oral cancer was conducted using a 26-item self-administered questionnaire.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: A response rate of 41.7% was achieved. The level of knowledge on early signs and risk habits associated with oral cancer was high and the majority reported to have conducted opportunistic screening and advised patients on risk habit cessation. Factors that influenced the dentist in practising prevention and early detection of oral cancer were continuous education on oral cancer, age, nature of practice and recent graduation. Notably, dentists were receptive to further training in the area of oral cancer detection and cessation of risk habits. Taken together, the study demonstrated that the dental clinic is a good avenue to conduct programs on opportunistic screening, and continuous education in these areas is necessary to adequately equip dentists in running these programs. Further, this study also highlighted knowledge deficits and practice shortcomings which will help in planning and developing programs that further encourage better participation of dentists in prevention and early detection of oral cancer.
DESIGN: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted on 14-18 years from four different public schools in Kuala Lumpur. Socio-demographic, pain symptoms, and social impacts data were collected as well as medication use and visiting a dentist for tooth pain.
RESULTS: Of 1473 questionnaires distributed, 1452 (98.6%) completed questionnaires were returned, with 269 (18.5%) reported having experienced tooth pain in the past 1 month. Those who identified as Indian (26.1%) were more likely to report tooth pain compared to Chinese (16.5%) and Malay (20.9%). In regression analysis, no factors were identified as independently associated with medication use, but Chinese and Indians compared to Malays, and those expressing difficulty sleeping were more likely to report visiting a dentist for treatment.
CONCLUSION: Racial variations in the tooth pain experience and care-seeking have been identified. This may be related to socio-economic status, but further research is needed on the role of culture-related care-seeking and accessibility of dental services.
METHODS: A multi-centric cross-sectional survey was conducted in Karachi at different institutions belonging to the private as well as government sector from January to March 2018. We used a structured questionnaire which was adapted from pretested questionnaires that have been used previously in similar studies. Descriptive statistics were analyzed using SPSS v22.0, where adequate knowledge was taken as a score of at least 50%. P
Results: The mean age of patients in group 1 was 6.8 ± 2.1 years, group 2: 8.15 ± 2.27 years, group 3: 7.5 ± 2.3 years, and group 4: 7.27 ± 1.68 years. The intragroup comparisons of heart rate and facial image scores have shown a significant difference in before and after dental treatment procedures. Marked reduction in heart rate and facial image scale scores were found in patients belonging to group 1 (mobile applications) and group 2 (dental video songs). An increase in heart rate and facial image scale scores was seen in group 3 (tell-show-do) and the control group.
Conclusion: The paediatric dental anxiety is a common finding in dental clinics. Behavior modification techniques like smartphone applications, "little lovely dentist," and "dental songs" can alleviate dental anxiety experienced by paediatric patients. The "tell-show-do" technique although most commonly used did not prove to be beneficial in the reduction of the anxiety levels.
Objectives: This study is aimed at determining the factors influencing the job satisfaction level among dentists. It is also aimed at evaluating how personal (age, gender) and professional (type, type of qualification, and year of practice) characteristics influence overall job satisfaction.
Methods: For data collection, a structured self-administered questionnaire was used, in which one part collected information on personal characteristics. At the same time, the other contained a questionnaire related to job satisfaction. The German validated version of the questionnaire had a 10-point Warr-Cook-Wall (WCW) scale developed by Warr et al. in 1979. Each item was rated on a 5-point Likert scale, with 5 representing excessive satisfaction and 1 representing extreme dissatisfaction.
Results: The results revealed that dentists in Saudi Arabia have a higher satisfaction level with "colleagues and fellow workers" (26.5%). The relation between the years of practice was highly significant. However, they were dissatisfied with their "income" (22.6%), and when compared with concerning age, gender, profession, and their practice years, this finding was highly significant.
Conclusion: A higher percentage of satisfaction was seen with the "fellow and colleague's workers" dimension. At the same time, "income" was the aspect with which the dentists showed extreme dissatisfaction.
Results: A total of 506 dental professionals participated in the study with the response rate of 89.39%. More than half of the participants (50-75%) endorsed that teledentistry is a useful tool for improving clinical practice as well as patient care. Two-thirds of the participants (69.96%) considered that teledentistry would reduce cost for the dental practices. On the other hand, about 50-70% of dental professionals expressed their concerns regarding the security of the data and consent of patients. The most preferred communication tool for teledentistry was reported to be videoconference followed by phone. The majority of participants recommended the use of teledentistry in the specialty of oral medicine, operative dentistry, and periodontics. There was a significant difference between the age, experience of dentists, and their qualifications with domains of teledentistry.
Conclusions: The overall impact of dental professionals towards teledentistry was positive with adequate willingness to incorporate this modality in their clinical practice. However, the perceived concerns pertaining to teledentistry are significant impediments towards its integration within the oral health system. An in-depth study of its business model and cost-benefit needs of time, especially in the context of developing countries, in order to avail the optimum benefits of teledentistry.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based research was conducted among 65 pediatric dentists in Malaysia. Online questionnaires were distributed to the pediatric dentists employed at public hospitals (MOH) and universities in Malaysia.
Result: It was found that over half of the respondents (65.6%) employed HTPMC. The analysis of the co-occurrence network frequency revealed that a high frequency of female pediatric dentists who were within the age group of 31-40 years old had fulfilled their postgraduation overseas and was employed in the university mainly applied HTPMC.
Conclusion: The application of HTPMC among respondent pediatric dentists in Malaysia was high. However, most respondents considered HTPMC a treatment option only to manage carious primary molar rather than a treatment of choice.
RESULTS: It was seen from the results of the study that the first-choice antibiotics for 67.8% of dentists were found to be the β-lactam group while sulfonamides and tetracyclines at 20% were the second most prescribed group. Another important finding was that 45.6% of dentists ignored hypersensitivity testing before prescription of antibiotics even though 83.3% of the total dentists interviewed were aware of the increase in antibiotic resistance.
CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the dentists are partially aware of the guidelines but need further training and education on antimicrobial prescription that enables evidence-based decision-making for better practices and outcomes.