A Study to assess the awareness and use of Silver Diammine Fluoride and Hall Technique among dental professionals and dental students in the Eastern Province

Abstract

Background A major shift has occured in the trend of dealing with dental caries from primary to secondary prevention, specially after SDF approval off-label by US FDA in recent years and Hall Technique (HT) in the last decade. Objectives To determine the frequency of awareness and use of Silver Diammine Fluoride (SDF) and Hall technique among dental professionals in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in a public hospital, metropolitan city of Middle Eastern region between March 15, 2019 & January 31, 2020. Dental practitioners were requested, with their consent, to fill up a digitally designed survey. Chi-square test on SPSS-20.0 was applied to compare frequency of awareness and use of SDF and HALL Technique among the survey participants. Results The awareness of SDF was found to be 73.6% among specialists, 54.9% among graduates and 29.6% among students whereas awareness of HALL technique for stainless steel crown in pediatric dentistry was found statistically similar in all participants groups i.e. 42.7% in students, 55.5% in graduates and 54.9% in specialist group (p = 0.125). Conclusion The results show potential with regards to awareness of dental specialists & postgraduate residents but inadequate among general dentists and students though all were keen advocates and found committed to its use to help the community. It points towards a further need of the of education for all groups. Those non- invasive techniques are very useful tools in general but specifically during Covid-19 pandemic where they can play a major role in preventing the spread of infection, arresting decay, alleviating pain and anxiety without resorting to aggressive treatment like pulp treatment/extraction. Low response rate may be improved in future through the respondents’ counselling and regular follow up.

Knowledge, Attitudes and Professional Behavior of Silver Diamine Fluoride among Dental Personnel: A Systematic Review

“…Table 1 illustrates the general characteristics of the 14 included observational cross-sectional studies, which were published between 2019 and 2022. Of the studies, five (35.7%) were conducted in the United States of America [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ] and another five (35.7%) were conducted in Saudi Arabia [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ]. The remaining four studies were from Brazil (7.1%) [ 31 ], the Netherlands (7.1%) [ 17 ], Pakistan (7.1%) [ 32 ], and India (7.1%) [ 33 ].…”

“…Outcomes measured from all studies included knowledge, attitude, perception/perceived barriers or advantages, SDF professional behavior or usage, and possible related associations. However, when analyzed, half of the selected studies did not categorize all variables according to the specific knowledge, attitude, or perception domains [ 22 , 23 , 25 , 26 , 29 , 30 , 31 ]. Therefore, for these studies, a discussion between two reviewers (I.E.M.…”

“…The sample size of included studies ranged from 58 (lowest) to 582 (highest) participants, with respondent ages from 20 to more than 60 years old. The majority of the respondents in seven studies were female (>60%) [ 17 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 32 , 33 ], in four studies the majority were male (>53%) [ 21 , 22 , 25 , 30 ], and three studies provided no data [ 23 , 24 , 31 ].…”

“…There was also a study that demonstrated high awareness (62.7%) when asked whether they have ever heard of SDF but at the same time were not sure or were not aware of what SDF is used for (14.9%) [ 30 ]. A study by Ezzeldin et al (2021) [ 29 ] showed that awareness of SDF increased with the hierarchy of professional status of the respondents: students 29.6%, dentists 54.6%, and specialists 73.6% ( p -value < 0.001).…”

Exploring Parent’s Satisfaction and the Effectiveness of Preformed Metal Crowns Fitting by Hall Technique for Carious Primary Molars in Jeddah Region, Saudi Arabia: Findings of a Prospective Cohort Study

“…According to a 2021 study on HT knowledge in Saudi Arabia, approximately 73.6% of specialists and 54.9% of graduates were aware of the technique. 19 All the guidelines support the use of PMCs For primary molars with extensive multi-surface carious lesions with signs of reversible pulpitis and the clinician’s judgment is the key to success for this biological approach. 20 Knowing the effectiveness and acceptability of HT by parents may encourage dental practitioners to use this technique confidently and optimize clinical outcomes in a variety of situations, such as in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, which required minimal aerosol-generating procedure (AGP), or when child cooperation compromised the conventional invasive approach to managing dental caries.…”