Dental practitioners’ knowledge and attitude regarding the use of silver diamine fluoride for the management of dental caries
Keywords:
SDF, Caries, Dental practitioners, Knowledge, AttitudeAbstract
Aim: To evaluate the knowledge and attitude among Libyan dental practitioners in Benghazi pertaining to the use of Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF).
Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study in which the data was collected via a validated and published questionnaire. The study was conducted using an online and a papered questionnaire. A random sampling of Libyan dental practitioners filled out a 3-section Likert-scale questionnaire including multiple questions determining demographic data, knowledge, attitude, SDF’s potential future use, and actual use of SDF in dental practitioner’s own practiced life.
Results: A total of 204 Libyan dental practitioners working in Benghazi public hospitals completed the survey. Their ages ranged from 20 to 59, the age group 20–30 years, representing 87 (43%), followed by the age group 30–40 representing 64 (31%). Gender-wise distribution revealed male number 54 (27%) almost third of female number 149 (73%). Almost half of participants were general dentists 98 (48%). When asked about their opinion on SDF usage, the majority of the participants agreed that SDF could be used to arrest cavitated lesions (69.5%), to arrest non-cavitated lesions (70%), should be placed under all restoration (65.9%) and should be placed under all restoration at caries risk patients (76.8%).
Conclusion: The knowledge and attitude of dental practitioners in Libya regarding SDF was evaluated and as such the aim of this study was accomplished. However, based on our findings, more studies are needed to assess the SDF's acceptance, implementation, and the difficulty of its adoption due to the lack of available data on its use.
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