Awareness and Knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 Infection among Dental Professionals According to the Turkish National Dental Guidelines
Fatih Karayürek, Neslihan YILMAZ ÇIRAKOĞLU, Aydın Gülses, Mustafa Ayna
Abstract
The objective of the current survey was to assess the awareness of the dental professionals according to the principals described by the Turkish Dental Association (TDA). A questionnaire including the socio-demographic data, specialties/academic degree, institutions/affiliations, the knowledge about COVID-19, the number of patients examined and dental treatments performed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the knowledge of protection based on the guidelines described by TDA, contamination with COVID-19 and the psychological complaints has been used. A total of 947 (63.1%) dentists enrolled the study. The results showed satisfactory knowledge about the COVID-19 etiology, mode of transmission and the pre-procedural cautions as the majority of them had a fair level of knowledge with significantly higher knowledge among specialized respondents. The participants have also recorded a good judgment towards performing the emergency dental treatment during the current COVID-19 pandemic which corresponds with the guidelines determined by TDA. Considering the updates on the transmission of COVID-19 and protective strategies, there is an urgent need for improvement of dentists' knowledge about risk assessment via training programs. The incidence of positive testing among dental professionals also necessitates immediately testing of asymptomatic Turkish dental professionals.