Table 3.
Comparison Between the Level of Qualification of the Dental Healthcare Workers and Their Knowledge Attitude and Practices (*Significant at p-value ≤0.05)
| S.No. | Designation | p-value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knowledge Items | General Dental Practitioners | Specialist/Consultant | ||
| 1 | Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is mainly via respiratory droplets and aerosols during a dental procedure | 330 (65.6) | 173 (34.4) | 0.22 |
| 2 | Aerosols produced during the dental treatment can reach alveoli in the lungs causing respiratory problems | 294 (65.3) | 156 (34.7) | 0.275 |
| 3 | Aerosols remain in the air for at least 10 minutes after the dental procedure and have the capacity to spread to a distance of at least 2 feet from the dental chair | 276 (66.8) | 137 (33.2) | 0.782 |
| 4 | Mouthwashes offer promising results against coronavirus transmission, as they have the potential to destroy the lipid membrane of the virus, thus effective against all mutated COVID-19 strains | 115 (61.8) | 71 (38.2) | 0.101 |
| 5 | Pre-procedural use of mouthwashes can effectively reduce the bacterial and viral load in dental aerosols | 190 (62.5) | 114 (37.5) | 0.031* |
| 6 | Mouthwashes constituting Povidone-iodine (PVP-I) are more efficient in reducing Coronaviruses than Chlorohexidine (CHX) mouthwashes | 145 (65.3) | 77 (34.7) | 0.635 |
| 7 | 0.23% PVP-I showed significant virucidal activity against SARS-COV, MERS-CoV, influenza virus and rotavirus | 106 (54.9) | 87 (45.1) | 0.001* |
| 8 | Cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) oral rinses remain effective in the oral cavity for up to 180 to 300 minutes | 124 (70.1) | 53 (29.9) | 0.266 |
| Attitude items | ||||
| 1 | Dental practitioners are exposed to highest risk of getting infected by corona-virus not only due to their close contact with infected patients but also due to inhalation of aerosols | |||
| Strongly disagree | 12 (70.6) | 5 (29.4) | 0.049* | |
| Disagree | 2 (100) | 0 | ||
| Neutral | 27 (55.1) | 22 (44.9) | ||
| Agree | 74 (77.1) | 22 (22.9) | ||
| Strongly agree | 264 (65) | 142 (35) | ||
| 2 | Novel coronavirus can successfully be controlled by pre-procedural use of mouth-washes in a dental setting | |||
| Strongly disagree | 50 (67.6) | 24 (32.4) | 0.111 | |
| Disagree | 81 (74.3) | 28 (25.7) | ||
| Neutral | 128 (66) | 66 (34) | ||
| Agree | 83 (66.4) | 42 (33.6) | ||
| Strongly agree | 37 (54.4) | 31 (45.6) | ||
| Practice items | ||||
| 1 | Do you educate your patient about COVID-19 disease and its transmission? | |||
| Strongly disagree | 38 (88.4) | 5 (11.6) | 0.001* | |
| Disagree | 81 (75.7) | 26 (24.3) | ||
| Neutral | 105 (75) | 35 (25) | ||
| Agree | 115 (54.8) | 95 (45.2) | ||
| Strongly agree | 40 (57.1) | 30 (42.9) | ||
| 2 | Do you use mouthwashes prior to dental procedures amidst COVID pandemic? | |||
| Strongly disagree | 9 (64.3) | 5 (35.7) | 0.575 | |
| Disagree | 10 (50) | 10 (50) | ||
| Neutral | 58 (69) | 26 (31) | ||
| Agree | 245 (66.4) | 124 (33.6) | ||
| Strongly agree | 57 (68.7) | 26 (31.3) | ||
| 3 | Which mouthwash do you normally recommend prior to any dental procedures? | |||
| Chlorhexidine | 256 (67.2) | 125 (32.8) | 0.439 | |
| Povidone-Iodine | 44 (63.8) | 25 (36.2) | ||
| Cetylypyridinium-chloride | 11 (50) | 11 (50) | ||
| Hydrogen peroxide | 41 (71.9) | 16 (28.1) | ||
| None | 27 (65.9) | 14 (34.1) | ||