Patient education and preventive care in Malaysian dental practice.
A questionnaire survey was conducted to examine the attitudes of Malaysian dentists toward patient education and preventive dentistry and the level of preventive care adopted in Malaysian dental practice. An adjusted response rate of 73.1% was obtained. Generally the Malaysian dentists had positive attitudes towards patient education and preventive dentistry including fluoridation. However, a sizable proportion of them considered that preventive measures were no challenge for the dentist. The common preventive measures given to patients were scaling, dental health education, prophylaxis and instruction in correct brushing and flossing in as much as 40 to 50 percent of the queried dentist claimed that these preventive items were provided to most or all of their new patients. In spite of the fact that the majority of the dentists had good knowledge about the application and effects of sealants only about 41 percent of the dentists claimed to have used sealants. More dentists in the private sector reportedly having done so. Also many Malaysian dentists (18.5%) did not use leaded protection for any of their new patients when taking radiographs.
Abdul Razak
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Department of Community Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Lind
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D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003815:Dentists / Q000523:psychology; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D006267:Health Education, Dental; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010895:Pit and Fissure Sealants; D011313:Preventive Dentistry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011364:Professional Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D010895:Pit and Fissure Sealants