May 2016 Vol. 4 No.5

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Original Research Article

The knowledge of general dentists in Tabriz about using of digital radiography in dentistry

Farzad Esmaeili¹, Peyman Shoja² and Ali Zarandi^3*

¹Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran
²Dentist, Private Practice
³Department of Periodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

*Corresponding Author E-mail: dr.alizarandi@gmail.com

Accepted May 15, 2016

Abstract

In dental practice, digital radiography is increasingly used as a new imaging system due to the advantages like time savings, radiation dose reduction, and image enhancements. The present study assessed the knowledge of general dental practitioners practicing at Tabriz City about using digital radiography systems. In this descriptive cross-sectional trial, 106 general dentists (33 females; 73 males) were selected and studied by a questionnaire. The questions comprised demographic items and knowledge about different aspects of the digital radiography. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were examined before to their distribution. The answers collected with the scale of more, moderate, little and no idea; for them, scores of 3 to 0 were allocated. The data were analyzed using descriptive methods, Pearson coefficient test and Mann-Whitney U test. The mean scores of knowledge about digital radiography were 27.52 with the standard deviation of 10.65 (range: 6-57) among dentists. Spearman's correlation test showed negative significant correlations between knowledge scores of digital radiography and age (r=-0.49, p<0.0001) and years practicing dental profession (r=-0.51, p<0.0001). Mean knowledge scores of females and males were 30.8 (±12.26) and 25.81 (±9.41) respectively being significantly higher in females (p<0.04). However, more dentists showed moderate knowledge about digital radiography; this level is not adequate due to the necessary of using digital radiographic systems to inform patients with the advantages. Therefore, more educations should be developed for the general dentists in the form of continuous or formal courses in this field.

Key words: Dentists, Digital radiography, Knowledge, Practice