Knowledge about emergency and non-emergency dental procedures during covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

The novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has become a real challenge for healthcare providers around the world. Recently, it has been recorded that among all the health care professionals dentists, dental assistants, and dental hygienists are at high risk as they are in close contact with patients and are exposed to body fluids of patients. To assess the knowledge and create awareness of changes in the practice of emergency and non – emergency dental procedures during COVID-19 among dental interns. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 100dental interns. As the study was conducted during the pandemic time, a web-based survey was created using google form which composed of a set of 12 structured custom- made questions. The answers were collected and subjected to statistics.It was seen that more than 80% of the dental interns were aware of the guidelines issued by various dental associations regarding changes in dental procedures during COVID-19 pandemic situation. Most of the students were also aware of the term ‘Tele dentistry’ and telecommunications for dental care, consultation and education. Adaptations and adjustments in the dental procedures need to be done to avoid the spread of the disease. Hence, it is important and mandatory for dental professionals and students to be aware of the precautions to be taken when performing emergency as well as non-emergency procedures during this pandemic situation.