Knowledge and Practices of Dentists Regarding Personal Protective Equipment during COVID-19 Pandemic: A CrossSectional Study among Pakistani Dentists

Abstract

<p><strong>Background and Objective:</strong> The Coronavirus disease 2019 first appeared in the area of Wuhan, China. Dental professionals are at greater risk of getting infected by patients and certain dental procedures involving aerosol generation and proximity to the oropharyngeal region. Therefore, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is recommended to protect skin and mucosa from infected blood or saliva. American Dental Association (ADA) has published recommendations for dental treatment, yet most of the dentists are still hesitant in treating patients. The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and practices of dentists in Pakistan regarding PPE during COVID-19 pandemic. <strong>Methods: </strong>Data collection was done using a well-structured web-based questionnaire (Google forms). The survey form was disseminated by sending the link via email, WhatsApp and other online forums. <strong>Results:</strong> A total of n = 1016 responses were collected. Approximately 91.6% of the participants were young dentists with years of experience 1 – 10 years. Majority of the participants 76.7% did not have easy access to PPE. A total of 60.8% claimed to be aware of the recent World Health Organizations, Centre for Disease Control and other international guidelines to screen COVID-19 patients at their clinic. Almost all the participants, 95.6%, had never undergone N95 fit-testing in their career. More than half of the participants, 64.4% were not aware of the differences between N95, N99, N100 masks. A positive trend was observed in 91.7% of the participants when asked about washing hands or uses an alcohol-based sanitizer before every patient encounter. More than three quarter (81%) of the participants was not performing aerosol producing procedures at their practices. <strong>Conclusion:</strong> Majority of dentists were found to have adequate knowledge and practice scores, which is important to combat COVID-19. However there still many gaps in their knowledge and practices which need to be highlighted to ensure safe dental practice for both patients and dentists.</p>