Journal of Dental Medicine

Background and Aims: A significant percentage of children with dental caries require, hospital dentistry and their parents do not have much information in this regard. The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice of pediatricians in hospital dentistry in Isfahan Province.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 100 pediatricians working in Isfahan. The self-administered questionnaire included demographics of doctors and 19 questions for assessing the knowledge, attitude and practice of pediatric practitioners about hospital dentistry under general anesthesia. Raw data were analyzed by Chi-square test using SPSS software version 23.
Results: 100 pediatricians with an average age of 44.1±5.7 years (57% male) completed the questionnaire. 53% of the pediatricians had a high level of awareness about hospital dentistry and 42% about its related guides. 66% practitioners had a favorable attitude toward general anesthesia and costs, while 71% considered the parents' awareness were poor about hospital dentistry. Only 43% of pediatricians performed oral examinations in their daily visits, and 17% had a referral for hospital dentistry. Male pediatricians aged from 35 to 45 had a higher level of knowledge about hospital dentistry. The attitude and practice of pediatricians did not have a significant relationship with their age. Meanwhile, male pediatricians had better performance in oral and dental examination and referral for hospital dentistry (P=0.15).
Conclusion: From the results of this study, there is a need for a serious improvement in the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of pediatricians in the field of hospital dentistry.

Background and Aims: Human ergonomics or engineering with proper design and change of work and requirements creates the most productivity based on human physiology. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of awareness of dental students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences about the basic principles of ergonomics in dentistry.
Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-analytical, sectional study, a questionnaire containing 10 questions was distributed and completed by easy sampling method among 74 final year students of the general doctorate of Isfahan school of dentistry. After collecting the questionnaires, the students were given an educational pamphlet. To evaluate the questionnaires, each correct answer was given a score of one and the wrong answers were given a score of zero. Data were analyzed by T-test, Kai Square, and Mann-Whitney statistical tests using SPSS23 software. P<0.05 was considered as a significant level. P<0.05 was considered as a significant level.
Results: The average score of the knowledge of principles of ergonomics was intermediate (6.23±1.25). Student knowledge was not significantly different based on the student gender (P=0.25) and academic semester (P=0.059). Also, 55% of students had a history of muscle pain that did not have a significant relationship with gender (P=0.258) and average score of the knowledge (P=0.288).
Conclusion: Unfortunately, ergonomics cannot be considered part of the principles of dental education and even later. Musculoskeletal pain is one of the most common complaints of dentists and is a factor in reducing their quality and function. Therefore, it seems that training and evaluation of ergonomic principles in dental education is necessary.

Background and Aims: The increase in life expectancy and decrease in birth rate enhances the elderly population in different societies and consequently, the demand from the health system for providing the treatment needs has been elevated. It has been proposed that dentists must improve their attitude, knowledge, and practice to meet these needs. The present study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of general dentists regarding geriatric oral health.
Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-analytic cross-sectional study, 150 general dentists participating in the annual congress of the Iranian Dental Association in 2018 were selected and completed a valid and reliable self-administered questionnaire including 5 parts about knowledge, attitude and practice regarding old age and oral health of elders. SPSS23 and multiple regression were used for data analysis.
Results: The mean age of dentists was 34.3 (SD: 9.1) and 92 (61.3%) of participants were women. The mean knowledge score about the old age was 16.67 (of maximum: 26, SD: 4.31) and the mean knowledge on the geriatric oral health was 11.01 (of maximum: 18, SD: 2.81). The mean general attitude about elderly was 19.1 (of maximum: 30, SD: 4.26), the mean attitude on geriatric oral health was 13.09 (of maximum: 20, SD: 2.65), and the mean practice about geriatric oral health was 6.5 (of maximum: 10, SD:2.96). Age was significantly associated with knowledge regarding the elderly (P<0.034); i.e. with increase in age lower scores in knowledge were gained.
Conclusion: General dentists participating in the congress of the Iranian Dental Association demonstrated a medium level of knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding the oral health of elders. Proper educational programs should be planned in dental schools to improve dental student's knowledge, attitude and practice about geriatric oral health.

Background and Aims: School teachers have key role in providing the basic health information for their students, and their knowledge, attitude, and practice affect children's oral health through developing of the healthy behaviors. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an oral health education program for primary school teachers on their knowledge, attitude, and practice fields in the framework of oral health promoting schools.
Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental pre-post study was conducted among five oral health promoting schools in Isfahan city in 2019. A validated and reliable questionnaire including four sections of demographic data, knowledge, attitude, and practice was applied for data collection. The questionnaire contained 24 knowledge, 9 attitudes, and 5 practice questions. It was distributed among 63 enrolled teachers at base line and two months later after two educational-emotional workshops. Before and after data were analyzed by SPSS21 (α=0.05) by related samples Wilcoxon signed rank test and background variables by Kruskall-wallis test.
Results: After the educational intervention, their knowledge score increased significantly from 14.1±3.8 to 18.5±3.7 (P<0.001). About 34% of teachers had a high level of knowledge proficiency at the beginning of the study which eventually rose to 76%. Teachers’ attitude decreased significantly from 34.6±5 to 31.4±4.6 (P<0.001). At the beginning of the study, 89% of them had a positive attitude towards oral health programs which decreased to 84% at the end of the study. In the performance part, 63.5% of the teachers paid attention to the fluoride in their toothpaste which reached 87.3% after the workshop and the teachers' performance score increased from 3.07 to 3.39 after the intervention (P<0.012).
Conclusion: The package of educational intervention for teachers in oral health-promoting schools improved the level of knowledge and practice, but slightly reduced the level of attitude. However, due to the importance of changing attitudes in teachers and the existence of structural and programmatic barriers to integrate the health issues into school education, other models need to be evaluated and compared.

Background and Aims: The objective of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice of ergonomics during dental treatment among students of Urmia university of medical sciences in 2020.
Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, self-administered questionnaires were given to 78 dental students of Urmia University in 2020 and the knowledge, attitude, and practice of every participant were evaluated. Demographic data including sex, age, and University grade were recorded as well. Data were analyzed by SPSS software24 with One Way ANOVA and t-test and the significance level of P<0.05.
Results: 78 students (44 males and 34 female) by Mean Age 23.9±2.12 were included in the study. The difference between the attitudes of different age groups was significant (P=0.006). The age group of 20 to 24 years had a more positive attitude than other age groups. However, the results of this study did not show a significant r elationship between the participants' knowledge and practice with their age (P>0.05).
Conclusion: According to this study, the knowledge, attitude and practice of Urmia dental students were in the desired range. 20-24 year students had significantly higher attitude in comparison to others. Therefore, more endeavors should be taken to improve these parameters in ergonomics.

Background and Aims: The 2019 coronavirus pandemic has resulted in a lot of pressure on health systems around the world. The risk of transmission of infection in dentistry is significantly high. The aim of this study was to evaluate Covid-19 protection knowledge and practice of dentists in Isfahan in clinical environment.
Materials and Methods: In this study which was performed in April 2021 by available sampling method, an online questionnaire was used as a data collection tool. Questions included demographic characteristics, knowledge of proper protective protocols, protection protocols taken against Covid-19, and the prevalence of Covid-19 infection. Descriptive and analytical analyzes were performed using SPSS26 software including frequency distribution tables, graphs, independent t-test, and Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients.
Results: 310 questionnaires were collected with complete answers. 87.4% of dentists had moderate and high knowledge of proper protective protocols against Covid-19. The mean knowledge score had no significant relationship with the demographic characteristics of age (P=0.59), gender (P=0.31 and r=0.05), work experience (P=0.16 and r=0.07) and degree (0.33=P). In the pandemic period, 87% of dentists treated dental emergencies and 40% delayed the dental treatment for patients with high risk of Covid-19. Dentists used personal protective equipment correctly. Among all the included dentists, 75% used high protection masks, 75% used face shields, 67% used hats, and 60% used sterile gowns in all of their treatment activities. The clinical environment was equipped well to prevent spreading of Covid-19. The results showed that 55.8% of the participants had one or more similar signs/symptoms of Covid-19 and 9% had a positive SARS-CoV-2 test during the last months.
Conclusion: The majorities of dentists had enough knowledge of proper protective protocols against Covid-19 and efficiently used all protections while performing dental procedures.
 

Background and Aims: Oral health is a necessity and part of general health and its importance in childhood is more than ever. The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge, attitude, and practice of parents in Delfan city-Iran about oral health of their 6-12-year-old children in 2021.
Materials and Methods: The present study was a descriptive-analytical study that was performed on 365 parents of 6-12-year-old children in Delfan city. Convenience sampling was used. The questionnaires included four sections: demographic information, knowledge, attitude and practice about oral health. Data were entered in SPSS23. Independent t-test, analysis of variance and Pearson correlation were used to analyze the data. Significance level was considered 0.05.
Results: The mean age of the subjects was 36.5±7.1. 201 of parents were mothers. Parents' knowledge and attitude were good and their performance was fair. There was a statistically significant relationship between all three variables of knowledge, attitude, and practice (P<0.00). Also, there was a statistically significant relationship between the knowledge and education (P<0.00), mother job (P<0.04), father job (P<0.00), and economic status (P<0.00). There was a statistically significant relationship between the attitude with education (P<0.00), mother job (P<0.04), father job (P<0.01), and economic status (P<0.01), There was a statistically significant relationship between practice and education (P<0.00), mother job (P<0.01), father job (P<0.00), and economic status (P<0.00) of parents.
Conclusion: The results of this study showed that there was a significant relationship between the knowledge, attitude, and practice with education level, job and economic status. Therefore, oral health education for parents with low educational and economic level should be highly considered.

Background and Aims: Considering the prevalence of periodontal disease in Iranian adults and its impact on general health and the role of medical practitioners, the purpose of the present study was to determine physician’s knowledge and attitude towards periodontal health.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Tehran in 2019 and after getting informed consent, a valid and reliable questionnaire was provided to medical practitioners in a continuing education course. Data were analyzed using the SPSS26 software.
Results: In total 170 subjects (response rate=95%) responded. The mean scores of knowledge and attitude towards periodontal health were 4.1 (maximum score of 6) and 51.9 (maximum score of 65), respectively. Work experience (P=0.022) and period of time after graduation (P=0.007) had a positive and significant relationship with participants' knowledge. Also, gender (P=0.012), work experience (P=0.002), period after graduation (P=0.005) and practitioner’s workplace (P=0.001) were significantly associated with their attitudes. The results showed that women had a better attitude towards prevention of gum disease.
Conclusion: In the present study, medical practitioners’ knowledge was good towards description of healthy periodontium and the first sign of periodontal diseas. Also, their attitudes regarding the importance of oral and dental diseases and its impact on social activities were appropriate. The results of the present study showed more emphasis is needed on delivering relevant dental education in medical curriculum.

Background and Aims: Nowadays, the requirement of any policy-making at the national and regional level is to know the level of knowledge of people about oral health and ways to prevent dental caries.  This study examined the habits, actions and economic level of elementary school students in Qazvin city in 2017-2018.  Also, the effects of peer group social network on behaviors related to oral health and obesity was investigated in order to find the way for interventions making it more effective in this social group. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, 145 students participated. They were in the 3nd and 6th grades of elementary school in the academic year of 2017-2018. The questionnaire used in this study had 20 questions and 4 main sections. The main parts of this questionnaire included demographic characteristics, behavior and habits related to oral health, oral health knowledge of students and families, and socio-economic status. Data were collected through clinical examinations and through valid questionnaires and evaluated using SPSS and Excel software. Results: According to the results of Pearson's correlation analysis, a significant correlation was observed between the health knowledge scores of individuals and their friends between both groups of casual and close friends (P<0.01). The correlation between the knowledge of individuals and close friends was significantly stronger (P<0.01). Also, there was a significant relationship between socio-economic status and behaviors related to oral health (P<0.05). There was also a significant positive relationship between the number of times close friends brushing their teeth in a social network (P<0.001). This connection was not observed in the friends’ network. Conclusion: This study determined that close friends can be effective in determining the oral hygiene behaviors of elementary school students.

Background and Aims: The development and regular use of adhesive systems has started to revolutionize many aspects of restorative and preventive dentistry. The success of adhesive restorations highly depends on correct application of them. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of determining the knowledge of dentists in Rafsanjan city (Iran) in choosing correct dental adhesive systems in 2023.
Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, all dentists working in Rafsanjan city were included. The data was collected by a valid and reliable electronic questionnaire, which included two parts of demographic information (gender, age, place of work and year of graduation) and the 12 multiple-choice questions aimed to assess respondents' knowledge regarding the selection of dental adhesive materials in combination with self-cure or dual-cure composites, anterior and posterior composite restorations, fiber posts, fissure sealants, primary teeth, anterior composite veneers, ceramic laminates, and non-carious cervical lesions. The scoring of this questionnaire was as follows: 0 to 3 correct answers = Low level of knowledge; 4 to 6 correct answers = Moderate level of knowledge; 7 to 9 correct answers = Good level of knowledge; 10 to 12 correct answers = Very good level of knowledge.  The four answer choices included "etch-and-rinse (three-step)", "etch-and-rinse (two-step)", "self-etch (two-step)", and "self-etch (all-in-one bottle)". Then data were analyzed by parametric tests (ANOVA, t-test, and Pearson). The significant level was considered as P<0.05.
Results: Out of 91 dentists in Rafsanjan, 79 (86.8%) participated in the study, of which 35 (46.3%) were men. The average work experience was 3.49±3.96 years for men and 2.98±3.73 years for women. The average knowledge score was 4.38±2.16 out of 12 (4.29±2.23 in men and 4.45±2.12 in women). The results showed that there was no significant relationship between the knowledge score and the gender, age, work experience, and workplace (P>0.05).
Conclusion: According to the results which indicated the insufficient knowledge of dentists in  choosing correct dental adhesive systems, it is suggested to pay more attention on teaching in this field at the dental schools. For graduate dentists, new and practical information about the choice of adhesive systems should be provided by continuous education programs.

Background and Aims: Given the rapid growth of digital technologies in dentistry, assessing dentists’ awareness and attitudes toward this transformation is essential. This study aimed to evaluate the awareness and attitudes of general dentists in Yazd-Iran toward digital dentistry in 2025.
Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, 135 general dentists in Yazd-Iran were selected through convenience sampling. Data were collected via an online questionnaire including demographic information and the questions related to awareness and attitude. Dat were analyzed using SPSS version 27 and the statistical analysis tests were Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, and Chi-square to examine the variables.
Results: A total of 59 men and 76 women with a mean age of 31.92 ± 7.87 years participated in the study. The mean knowledge score was 7.76 ± 2.77 out of 12. Higher knowledge and a more positive attitude were significantly associated with older age, longer work experience, and male gender (P<0.05). Overall, 74.1% of participants were unaware of the well-known CAD/CAM system, 74.8% were unfamiliar with digital implant software, and 60% did not have adequate knowledge of correct application of intraoral scanners. While, 81.5% reported an overall positive attitude, only 11.9% considered their knowledge to be aligned with modern digital technologies.
Conclusion: General dentists demonstrated a moderate level of awareness and the existing knowledge gaps warrant greater attention in both undergraduate and continuing education. Enhancing knowledge among specific groups-such as younger, less experienced, and female dentists—is essential. Significant differences in attitudes were observed according to the age, gender, and years of professional experience.