A scoping review of knowledge, attitudes, and clinical practices of dental professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 is a respiratory disease identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and it has become one of the century›s most significant public health concerns. Dentists are among the most exposed medical professionals to the risk of COVID-19 infection, and they must modify their routine clinical attitudes and behaviors. This study sought to assess the current status of dental professionals› knowledge, attitudes, and practices, as well as their adherence to COVID-19 pandemic guidelines. Methods: A scoping review protocol was developed by searching scientific papers in EBSCO, MEDLINE, CENTRAL, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus electronic databases using "COVID-19" and "Dentistry" as key search terms to find relevant papers published until March 13, 2021. Two authors reviewed the potentially relevant articles in full. All cross-sectional or cohort studies that evaluated the knowledge, attitudes, or practices of dentists through questionnaires were selected for the review. Results: The search strategy led to the identification of a total of 405 articles which were subsequently assessed for eligibility. By application of inclusion and exclusion criteria, the obtained results were further reduced to 25 citations. The results were organized into the following categories: knowledge (transmission, signs and symptoms, incubation period, etc), attitudes (protective measurements, occupational risk of infection), and practices (protective measurements, personal protective equipment, current status of dental treatments, etc). Conclusion: The research study came to the conclusion that the majority of dentists have sufficient knowledge of COVID-19 infection and comprehend the significance of performing only emergency procedures and delaying elective procedures. Moreover, most of them believed that more awareness programs on COVID-19 prevention are needed for both the dental fraternity and the public.