Practitioner’s Perspective of Personal Protection Against COVID-19 During Prosthodontics Rehabilitation

Abstract

The corona virus pandemic has impacted almost all kinds of public health care professions, including dentistry. Objectives: In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the practitioner’s perspective of personal protection against COVID-19 and evaluating the practicing protective protocols adopted by local practitioners. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 150 practitioners from two different private dental hospitals. Data was collected by pre-structured questionnaire, which composed of 20 questions. These questions assessed infection control measures and their perspective and knowledge regarding spread of Corona virus. Data were analysed using (SPSS version 20.0) Results: A total of 150 practitioners participated in the study (70 house officers and 80 post graduate residents and above). The most commonly practiced procedure was wearing mask (81.3%) and washing hands (76%) after gloves removal. A small number of practitioners preferred rinsing mouth with mouth wash (2.7%), use of water-resistant gowns (4.7%), wearing goggles (8%), use of N95 mask and rubber dam application (9.3%) each during procedure. Conclusion: Prosthodontists are at highest risk of contracting the virus owing to aerosol generating procedures. Current study observed an inadequate use of PPEs as depicted from various responses from practitioners such as limited use of mouth rinses before start of procedures, goggles, water resistant gowns and N95 masks