key: cord-0869865-pq6yve1l
authors: Adel‐Khattab, Doaa; Samy, Amira Mohammad; Horowitz, Robert A.
title: Dentists’ perception toward COVID‐19: A cross‐sectional study among a sample of Egyptian dentists
date: 2021-11-01
journal: Oral Dis
DOI: 10.1111/odi.14053
sha: 8126dd48d6c9302948bc35f011f7e48d6e9c1b84
doc_id: 869865
cord_uid: pq6yve1l

nan

in the dental clinic is critical, particularly in the epidemic period of COVID-19. Many precautions should be taken in hospital settings and private dental practices in order to avoid the possible spread of COVID-19 among patients, dentists, dental assistances, and nurses (Wong et al., 2020) .

This cross-sectional study targeted the population of Egyptian dentists who worked in universities, public and private clinics, or other healthcare settings. This survey was conducted in April and May of 2020. An online questionnaire using Google Forms was used to collect the data. The questionnaire was given to dentists through Facebook groups and an Egyptian dental syndicate.

A total of 413 Egyptian dentists participated in this study (232 females and 181 males). 59% of the participants' age were 30 years old, one third of participants were general dentists, and around half of the participants had a private practice. During COVID-19 pandemic, 29% of participants fully closed their clinics, 23.7% were open only for emergency, and the least percent (6.7%) of participants closed their clinic and only 25% for regular work. Emergencies were defined as pain, swelling, and trauma. The use of a rubber dam is advised during applicable dental procedures as it significantly minimizes the spread of saliva-and blood-contaminated aerosol, especially when high-speed hand pieces are used. Rubber dam can reduce airborne particles by 70% (Samaranayake et al., 1989) . If rubber dam isolation is not possible, manual devices such as Carisolv and hand scaler are recommended for caries removal and periodontal therapy in order to minimize aerosol generation (Peng et al., 2020; Samaranayake et al., 1989) . Most of the participants chose extraoral radiographic technique as panorama since taking a periapical radiograph may stimulate saliva secretion and coughing (Vandenberghe et al., 2010;  Table 1 ).

60% of the dentists read CDC and ADA instructions. However, the information about COVID-19 that a majority of dentists surveyed relied upon was taken from social media and non-scientific papers. Next, frequent sources of information were scientific papers and internet research that highlight the influence of social media on information spread. Regarding COVID-19 courses, 70% of the participants did not take online courses or workshops nor did they belong to chat groups. 

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Transmission routes of 2019-nCoV and controls in dental practice

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The efficacy of rubber dam isolation in reducing atmospheric bacterial contamination

Modern dental imaging: a review of the current technology and clinical applications in dental practice

Preparing for a COVID-19 pandemic: a review of operating room outbreak response measures in a large tertiary hospital in Singapore. Se préparer pour la pandémie de COVID-19: revue des moyens déployés dans un bloc opératoire d'un grand hôpital tertiaire au Singapour

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. World Health Organization

Salivary glands: potential reservoirs for covid-19 asymptomatic infection