Abstract
Objective. The purpose of the study was to assess the knowledge, value, opinion, and practice regarding use of dental sealants among private dental practitioners in Bathinda City, Punjab, India. Materials and Methods. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among all private dental practitioners in Bathinda City, Punjab. A self-administered structured questionnaire consisting of 28 items was used to assess their knowledge, value, opinion, and practice regarding dental sealants. One-way analysis of variance, independent sample t-test, and multivariate regression analysis were utilized for statistical analysis. Confidence level and level of significance were set at 95% and 5%, respectively. Results. The mean scores for knowledge, value, opinion, and practice were 41.8 ± 3.7, 18.7 ± 2.8, 18.1 ± 1.4, and 12.9 ± 2.3, respectively. Analysis revealed that qualification was statistically significant among all dependent variables (P ≤ 0.05); work experience was significantly associated with both knowledge and opinion means scores (P ≤ 0.05). Conclusion. The results suggest that dental practitioners had sufficient knowledge about dental sealants. They also acknowledge the importance of use of dental sealants. Practice of dental sealants in clinics was found adequate but they were not following the specific guidelines and standardized procedures.
Highlights
Dental caries is an important public health problem and it is the most prevalent oral disease among children
Dental professionals who had more than 10 years of work experience had less knowledge than those who had 5–10 or less than 5 years of work experience and this is in accordance with a study conducted by San Martin et al [24] among Spanish dentists
78.8% of participants in this study found it necessary to promote the use of dental sealants
Summary
Dental caries is an important public health problem and it is the most prevalent oral disease among children. This disease causes damage to the tooth but is responsible for several morbid conditions of the oral cavity and other systems of the body [1]. A very extensive and comprehensive National Health Survey conducted in 2004 throughout India has shown dental caries prevalence of 51.9% in 5-year-old children, 53.8% in 12-yearold children, and 63.1% in 15-year-old teenagers [3]. In the year 2013, the prevalence of dental caries in Ludhiana was found to be as high as 81.4% in the 12-yearold age group and 86.2% among 15-year-old age group [5]. In a similar study among 5- and 12-year-old schoolchildren of Chandigarh the prevalence of dental caries was found to be 48.3% and 30.5% in the year 2012 [6]
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