title: Dental sealant knowledge, opinion, values and practice of Spanish dental hygienists.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Dental sealants have proved to be an effective approach to prevent pit and fissure caries. This study examines the knowledge, opinion, values and practice (KOVP) of dental hygienists concerning sealant use in the southwest region of Andalusia, Spain.
  
  
  METHODS
  Spanish dental hygienists (n = 400) volunteered to complete a 31-item, self-administered, pretested questionnaire to assess their knowledge, opinion, values and practice regarding pit and fissure sealants. Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed ranks test, the Friedman nonparametric repeated-measures anova and Spearman's correlation were used to analyse the data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean scores for knowledge, opinion, values and practice were 3.57 ± 0.41; 2.17 ± 0.42; 2.58 ± 0.77 and 3.56 ± 0.46, respectively. Knowledge differed by years of experience (P < 0.01) and place of work (P < 0.01); opinion differed by years of experience (P = 0.03) and sector (P < 0.01). Similarly, practice about sealants differed by years of experience (P < 0.01). Conversely, values around sealant placement did not statistically differ by sex, years of experience, practice sector or place of work. Statistically, significant correlations were found between knowledge, opinion and value, while it was found no significant correlation between practice and the other variables (P > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most dental hygienists have sufficient knowledge about pit and fissure sealants. They also acknowledge the importance of use of dental sealants and have positive opinion/attitude about using sealants. Practice of dental sealants in clinics was found adequate. However, they were not following the specific guidelines and standardized procedures.
authors.affiliation: School of Dentistry, University of Seville, Seville, Spain.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: San Martin
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, University of Seville, Seville, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Huertos-Marchante
authors.affiliation: School of Dentistry, University of Seville, Seville, Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Galvan-Martos
authors.affiliation: School of Dentistry, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Lozano
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003756:Dental Hygienists / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010895:Pit and Fissure Sealants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013030:Spain; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D010895:Pit and Fissure Sealants
keywords: caries; dental hygienist; dental sealants; oral health; prevention