Perception of Dentists towards Periodontal Diagnosis, Treatment and Referral in Belagavi District, Karnataka, India: A Cross-sectional Study
Correspondence Address :
Dr. Nikitha Shetty,
KLE Academy of Higher Education and Research, V.K. Institute of Dental Sciences,
Nehru Nagar, Belagavi, Karnataka, India.
E-mail: nikithashetty921994@gmail.com
Introduction: Periodontitis poses a major burden to the society because of lack of awareness about periodontal health among the population. Patients diagnosed with periodontitis require special attention which usually goes unnoticed due to lack of comprehensive periodontal examination. The standard of periodontal care varies among the dentists.
Aim: To assess the perception of the dentists towards periodontal diagnosis, treatment and referral.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional web-based questionnaire survey was conducted in the Department of Periodontics, KLE Academy of Higher Education and Research (KAHER), VK Institute of Dental Sciences, Belgaum, Karnataka, India, between October 2020 to January 2021 among the dentists in Belagavi district of Karnataka. A total of 19 custom designed multiple choice, open ended and checklist questions were formulated and an online link to the questions was circulated via email and whatsApp among professional colleagues. The questions were designed to embark on periodontal diagnosis, treatment provided by the dental practitioners and their routine referral to a periodontist. The data acquired was statistically evaluated using descriptive analysis with the IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software (Version 20.0 Chicago IL, USA) and Chi-square test with a significance level of p<0.05.
Results: Of the total responses obtained (n=150), 98.6% of the dentists carried out full mouth examination. Dentists surveyed were aware of the parameters for periodontal diagnosis, 73.3% used periodontal probe and 92.7% were aware of the critical probing depth. A total of 68.6% of the dentists provided scaling followed by referral to a periodontist. Statistical significance was observed between the years of experience of a dental practitioner towards the awareness of interrelationship between periodontitis and systemic health (p=0.009). Female practitioners contributed more to education and motivation regarding periodontal health (p=0.048). Treatment outcomes and longer periodontal recall were the factors considered by 66% of the dentists that influenced a periodontal referral.
Conclusion: Within the limitations of the study, it was found that the dentists were able to diagnose periodontitis, majority of them provided scaling followed by periodontal consultation. Mucogingival deformity was most often planned for a periodontal referral. Contribution towards patient education, motivation and reinforcement to have a regular periodontal maintenance therapy was positively implemented in their practice.
Consultation, Dental practitioner, Periodontal therapy, Periodontist
10.7860/JCDR/2021/51025.15706
Date of Submission: Jun 24, 2021
Date of Peer Review: Aug 20, 2021
Date of Acceptance: Sep 29, 2021
Date of Publishing: Nov 01, 2021
AUTHOR DECLARATION:
• Financial or Other Competing Interests: None
• Was Ethics Committee Approval obtained for this study? Yes
• Was informed consent obtained from the subjects involved in the study? Yes
• For any images presented appropriate consent has been obtained from the subjects. No
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• Manual Googling: Sep 27, 2021
• iThenticate Software: Oct 21, 2021 (7%)
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