PREPAREDNESS OF DENTISTS IN INDONESIA TOWARDS COVID-19 INFECTION CONTROL

Abstract

Dental treatments have a very high risk of COVID-19 transmission. Therefore, dental professionals are required to implement strict COVID-19 infection control measures. This study used a questionnaire to evaluate the preparedness of dentists in Indonesia, preparedness is measured by analyzing the: (1) perception of the dentists towards COVID-19 infection control, and (2) how routinely dentists carry out COVID-19 infection control measures during their practice. A comparison of the perception and practice scores among dentists in different: (1) work settings (primary health centres, dental clinics, and hospitals), (2) qualification (GP, specialist), (3) work experience, (4) number of patients treated in a day, and (5) history of being transmitted with COVID-19 transmission during dental treatment, was made. A total of 520 respondents filled the questionnaire. Slight differences were observed for the perception scores, however all groups tend to have a good average perception score, as an average above 90 was found for all the groups. A clearer difference can be seen for the practice scores, with an average of 84,50 ± 1,01 for dentists who worked in hospitals versus an average of 76,6 ± 1,47 for dentists who worked in primary health centres. An average of 82,90 ± 0,83 was found for specialists, while the average for GPs was 79,13 + 0,64. Analysis in each question showed that dentists who had a good perception, tend to have a better practice. However, several dentists who had a good perception (for example thought that using rubber dams is very important), answered that they rarely or even never implemented it during their practice. The practice of COVID-19 infection control measures in Indonesia is not only influenced by the perception of the dentists, but also by other factors, primarily the availability of the tools required for infection control in their work setting.