Abstract
Background: Fasting places prohibitions on eating and drinking for a certain period. Although many dental treatments have been said to be safe and can be performed while fasting, others may break the fast. The study aims to evaluate the perception of dental patients regarding the effect of such treatments and hygiene measures during fasting.
 Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was carried out in two dental teaching hospitals of Lahore, Pakistan. A self-administered structured questionnaire was developed to assess the knowledge and perception of patients regarding dental treatments and hygiene practices while fasting. The chi-squared test was used to observe differences between knowledge amongst gender, occupation and education status. Moreover, multinomial regression analysis was performed to assess the relationship between these variables.
 Results: Among 374 responses, about 76.2% of respondents believed that undergoing extraction broke fast. Scaling thought to nullify the fast by 45.5%. 52.9% perceived root canal treatment (RCT) to break the fast, along with 67.6%, who believed anesthesia administration broke fast. Brushing was reported to break the fast by 57.5%, with mouthwash invalidating fast by 63.4%.
 Conclusion: Most respondents thought most oral hygiene measures broke the fast, whereas responses were split regarding procedures where few were perceived to break the fast, and the rest did not.
Highlights
Fasting is an obligatory practice in Islam during the month of Ramadan[1]
This study aimed to assess the patients' level of awareness regarding the types of treatments and oral hygiene practices permissible during fasting
The results revealed that unemployed responders and high schoolers perceived root canal treatment (RCT) procedure which breaks the fast than others (OR=1.8, 95% CI 1.13 – 2.88, p=0.013 and OR=2.1, 95% CI 1.24 – 3.64, p=0.006 respectively)
Summary
Fasting is an obligatory practice in Islam during the month of Ramadan[1]. One of the fundamentals of fasting is refraining oneself from consuming any food or drink during the fasting hours. As per Islamic teachings, people who are unwell, elderly and travelling are not covered under the same umbrella of compulsory fasting[2] It includes women who are menstruating, pregnant, new mothers and lactating. Many dental treatments have been said to be safe and can be performed while fasting, others may break the fast. A self-administered structured questionnaire was developed to assess the knowledge and perception of patients regarding dental treatments and hygiene practices while fasting. 52.9% perceived root canal treatment (RCT) to break the fast, along with 67.6%, who believed anesthesia administration broke fast. Conclusion: Most respondents thought most oral hygiene measures broke the fast, whereas responses were split regarding procedures where few were perceived to break the fast, and the rest did not
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