To Evaluate Fear and Assess Practice Modification among Dentist against COVID-19 in India – A Questionnaire Based Survey

Introduction: This highly infective new virus, named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus-2 (Sars-CoV-2), is a corona virus responsible of an acute respiratory syndrome, often asymptomatic but potentially lethal, named Corona Virus Disease 19 (COVID-19). Airborne and direct contact contamination is a major infection pathway of Sars-CoV-2. SARS-CoV-2 transmission during dental procedures can therefore happen through the inhalation of aerosol/droplets from infected individuals or direct contact with mucous membranes, oral fluids, and contaminated instruments and surfaces .Therefore, dentists have a high risk of getting infected from patients and potentially spreading it to their peers, families, and other patients.

Aim: To evaluate fear and assess practice modification among dentist against COVID-19 in India

Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study a total of 260 general dental practitioners, postgraduates and graduates across Central India, who were registered under the Dental Council of India, were included in the survey. A questionnaire consisting of 22 Questions with regard to COVID -19 fear and practice modification was designed and the questionnaire was circulated through a web designed program. The responses were collected, and data were analyzed descriptively using SPSS Statistics for Windows version 27.0.

Results: There is a description of the fear and anxiety levels of dental care professionals towards COVID-19; 83.85% of participants were afraid of getting infected with COVID-19 from either a patient or a co-worker. While treating a coughing or a patient suspected to be infected with COVID-19, 90% were anxious. In terms of using personal protection, 63.85% believed that a surgical mask is not enough to prevent cross-infection of COVID-19. In comparison, 93.08% favored the use of N-95 masks for routine dental procedures during the current outbreak. Although the majority 91.15% recommended routine universal precautions of infection control.

Conclusion: Overall, this study sheds light on the association of COVID-19 factors and fear and anxiety elevated among dentists during working in this pandemic. Covid-19 spread all over world and is worsening day by day. On current scenario several dental practices have either modified their services according to recommended guidelines to emergency treatment only, or closed down practices for an uncertain period.