Evaluating Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Pakistani Dental Professionals Regarding Silver Diamine Fluoride

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the knowledge and attitude regarding Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF) among Pakistani Dental Professionals worked at various institutes of Karachi.
 Methodology: This cross-sectional survey-based study was conducted among the house surgeons, general dental practitioners and specialists worked at various institutes of Karachi. Questionnaire was distributed among 375 participants through social media. Questionnaire was kept on google forum and link was sent to all participants through social media including Facebook, WhatsApp by non-probability consecutive sampling. Questionnaire was composed of two portions. Questions in first portion were related to demographic data and in second portion of Questionnaire had 13 closed ended questions regarding Knowledge and Approach towards Silver Diamine Fluoride. Statistical package for social sciences SPSS-25 was used for data entry and analysis with descriptive statistic, which used frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation.
 Results: Out of the total 375 participants, 160(43%) were male and 215 (57%) female. Mean age of participants was 33 + 11.8 years. 191(51%) heard about SDF and only 108(29%) attended lectures/discussions about SDF. 189(50.40%) responded that SDF is used in enamel lesion. 251(67%) participants responded that SDF is used in both anterior and posterior teeth. Only 160(42.66%) of participants responded that SDF is used for both dentitions. 122(32.53%) were agreed that SDF is an alternative to removing dental lesion by a dental drill, while only 118 (31.47%) agreed that many patients would not accept treatment of dental caries with SDF due to the permanent black staining of the carious lesion. 240 (64%) of participants were disagree about the SDF require the use of local anesthesia and more than half of participants responded that the silver is an antimicrobial ingredient in SDF. 237(63.2%) of participants responded that SDF is indicated in Children with High caries rate and most of them responded that black staining of tooth is main disadvantage and barrier to the use of SDF. Majority of participants did not know about reapplication interval for use of SDF.
 Conclusion: SDF is an appropriate alternative for restoring dental cavities in children. As it doesn’t require local anesthesia, it is the safest way to limit the progression of lesion in patient with high caries index. But there are some barriers related to the use of SDF in their regular dental practice is that, SDF causes permanent staining of tooth and also practitioners had little knowledge about their application protocols and recall or reapplication intervals.