INVESTIGATION OF THE SELF-REPORTED ATTITUDE OF DENTISTS TOWARDS PREVENTIVE APPLICATIONS

The purpose of this study was to determine the approaches of dentists to the use of fluoride applications as preventive treatment options. The study was a questionnaire based cross-sectional survey divided into two sections and the participating dental practitioners were asked to answer a questionna...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Fluoride 2023-01, Vol.56 (1), p.23-40
Main Authors: Koruyucu, Mine, Ozcan, Hazal, Birant, Sinem, Ilisulu, Sabiha Ceren, Bekiroǧlu, Nural, Seymen, Figen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age groups
Attitudes
Chi-square test
Dental caries
Dentistry
Dentists
Fluoridation
Fluorides
Oral hygiene
Patients
Prevention
Questionnaires
Sealing compounds
Software
Statistical analysis
Toothpaste
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The purpose of this study was to determine the approaches of dentists to the use of fluoride applications as preventive treatment options. The study was a questionnaire based cross-sectional survey divided into two sections and the participating dental practitioners were asked to answer a questionnaire about: (i) demographic data and (ii) dentists' attitudes to prevention. Data entry and analyses were performed using SPSS statistical software. Data were analyzed using frequency counts, percentages, and Chi-square test. The sample (N=481), who volunteered to participate, consisted of 332 general dentists (69%) and 149 specialist dentists (31%). 380 (79%) dentists applied preventive applications. 452 dentists (94%) considered that fluoride was effective in preventing caries. 235 dentists (48.9%) thought that fluoride had side effects. Significantly more female dentists thought that fluoride had a caries preventive effect than male dentists (p=0.005) and they applied preventive treatments more frequently than male dentists (p=0.01). All age groups believed that fluoride was useful to prevent caries, and almost all the dentists in the 18-25 age range believed in a caries preventive effect of fluoride (98.6%) (p=0.0001). Dentists in 18-25 age range used preventive applications for their patients more than other age groups (p=0.019). Fewer dentists aged 26-35 than dentists in the other age groups (p=0.037) thought that the fluoride preparations had dental and/or medical side effects. Non-specialist dentists gave more priority to preventive applications than specialist dentists (p=0.0001). The approach of dentists to the use of preventive practices will change if they keep up-to-date with information about preventive practices through ongoing training.
ISSN:0015-4725
2253-4083