Table 4.

Practitioners' attitude and practice towards radiation protection according to their educational level.

No.	Attitude items	Response	Educational level				P-value
			Undergraduate students (%)	Endodontic postgraduate students (%)	General practitioners (%)	Endodontists (%)
1	Do you use lead apron for patients during exposure?	Very frequently + frequently	85.2a	88.2a	75b	69.6b	0.017 ∗
		Occasionally	9.6	4.4	11.8	11.6
		Rarely + never	5.2	7.3	13.1	18.8
2	Do you use thyroid collar for patients during exposure?	Very frequently + frequently	75.7a	76.5a	55.2b	55b	0.001 ∗
		Occasionally	10.4	7.4	15.8	14.5
		Rarely + never	13.9	16.2	28.9	30.4
3	Do you ask patients to hold the film?	Very frequently + frequently	42.6a	54.4b	47.4a	56.5b	0.019 ∗
		Occasionally	21.7	14.7	23.7	20.3
		Rarely + never	35.7	30.9	29	23.2
4	Do you stand directly in the path of the primary radiation?	Very frequently + frequently	10.4	10.3	10.6	11.6	0.089
		Occasionally	13.9	19.1	17.1	15.9
		Rarely + never	75.7	70.6	72.4	72.4
5	Do you stand behind a lead barrier during exposure?	Very frequently + frequently	66.1a	52.9b	55.3b	34.8c	0.001 ∗
		Occasionally	18.3	23.5	17.1	14.5
		Rarely + never	15.6	23.6	27.6	50.7
6	If within the same area, do you stand 6 feet away from primary X-ray beam during exposure?	Very frequently + frequently	54.8	66.2	44.7	71	0.053
		Occasionally	21.7	20.6	30.3	14.5
		Rarely + never	23.4	13.2	25	14.4
7	Do you hold the film in the patients' mouth during exposure?	Very frequently + frequently	7.8a	19.1b	21b	15.9b	0.001 ∗
		Occasionally	15.7	19.1	11.8	17.4
		Rarely + never	76.5	61.8	67.1	66.7
8	Do you stay within the same clinic during X-ray exposure?	Very frequently + frequently	16.5	23.6	21.1	26	0.33
		Occasionally	24.3	23.5	13.2	13
		Rarely + never	59.2	53	65.7	60.9
9	If you decided to stay within the same clinic during X-ray exposure, do you use lead apron on a regular basis?	Very frequently + frequently	41.7a	25b	32.9b	26.1b	0.041 ∗
		Occasionally	13.9	19.1	13.2	10.1
		Rarely + never	44.4a	55.8d	53.9d	63.7d
10	Do you display caution or hold a warning sign while exposed to X-ray?	Very frequently + frequently	44.4a	33.8b	42.1a	26b	0.03 ∗
		Occasionally	14.8	20.6	15.8	17.4
		Rarely + never	40.9	45.5	42.1	56.5
11	Do you allow people to come inside the room during exposure to X-ray?	Very frequently + frequently	3.4	3	5.3	0	0.454
		Occasionally	10.4	8.8	9.2	10.1
		Rarely + never	86.1	88.2	85.6	89.9

^∗Significant at P < 0.05. The same superscript letters indicate no significant differences (P > 0.05).