Dental professional’s perspective regarding knowledge, awareness, and attitude towards the importance of charting dental anomalies: a cross-sectional study
Importance of Charting Dental Anomalies: Dental Professionals Perspective
Abstract
Objectives: Presence of dental anomalies could play a significant role in identification of individuals through comparison of antemortem and post mortem data. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the level of knowledge, attitude and awareness among dental professional regarding importance of charting dental anomalies and maintenance of dental records.
Methodology: A self-structured questionnaire was e-mailed to dental professionals practicing in India. The responses were recorded, data was tabulated and one way ANOVA and Post Hoc tests were applied for analysis. The criterion for significance was p < .05.
Results: A total of 406 dental professionals responded to the survey. A significant difference was observed in mean attitude score of participants towards importance of charting dental anomalies and maintenance of dental records with regard to place of work (p=.001), gender (p=.044) and educational qualification (p=.039). In addition, statistically significant difference was observed in mean awareness score of participants with regard to place of work (p=.033) and gender (p=.001). The major barrier in maintaining dental records was lack of time followed by lack of adequate knowledge, lack of infrastructure and financial constraints.
Conclusion: 81.3% and 69.26% study participants had very good awareness and attitude whereas 71.2% had good knowledge regarding importance of charting dental anomalies and maintenance of dental records; however, their inaccurate responses in anomaly identification hinted towards need of proper dental charting and their maintenance to be taught en masse and made part of the BDS curriculum.
