title: Dental Sealants: Knowledge, Value, Opinion, and Practice among Dental Professionals of Bathinda City, India.
abstract: Objective. The purpose of the study was to assess the knowledge, value, opinion, and practice regarding use of dental sealants among private dental practitioners in Bathinda City, Punjab, India. Materials and Methods. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among all private dental practitioners in Bathinda City, Punjab. A self-administered structured questionnaire consisting of 28 items was used to assess their knowledge, value, opinion, and practice regarding dental sealants. One-way analysis of variance, independent sample t-test, and multivariate regression analysis were utilized for statistical analysis. Confidence level and level of significance were set at 95% and 5%, respectively. Results. The mean scores for knowledge, value, opinion, and practice were 41.8 ± 3.7, 18.7 ± 2.8, 18.1 ± 1.4, and 12.9 ± 2.3, respectively. Analysis revealed that qualification was statistically significant among all dependent variables (P ≤ 0.05); work experience was significantly associated with both knowledge and opinion means scores (P ≤ 0.05). Conclusion. The results suggest that dental practitioners had sufficient knowledge about dental sealants. They also acknowledge the importance of use of dental sealants. Practice of dental sealants in clinics was found adequate but they were not following the specific guidelines and standardized procedures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Pacific Dental College and Hospital, Debari, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India.
authors.forename: Kailash
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Asawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Pacific Dental College and Hospital, Debari, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India.
authors.forename: Vivek V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Pacific Dental College and Hospital, Debari, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India.
authors.forename: Mridula
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tak
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Rama Dental College and Hospital, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Ramesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nagarajappa
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Pacific Dental College and Hospital, Debari, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India.
authors.forename: Pulkit
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chaturvedi
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Pacific Dental College and Hospital, Debari, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India.
authors.forename: Salil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bapat
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Sri Aurobindo Institute of Dental Sciences, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Prashant
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Guru Nanak Dental College & Hospital, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Santanu Sen
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Roy