Knowledge attitude and practice of Indian dentists on topical fluoride application in children

To assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of dentists towards Topical fluoride application in Delhi, National Capital Region (NCR).

A self-made questionnaire was designed in a manner through which Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of the practitioners on topical fluoride application could be studied. The validated questionnaire was mailed to 100 dentists. Data were analysed using SPSS version 20 for inferential statistics and Spearman's correlation coefficient.

70 0f 100 respondents filled the questionnaire. Majority of the practitioners who were enrolled in the study were paediatric dentists (50.7%), followed by General practitioners (31.9%). Majority of the dentists (71%) did not face any difficulty in integrating preventive procedure in their practice. Acidulated phosphate fluoride (APF)/Sodium Fluoride (NaF) gel was the preferred choice amongst the practitioners. Most of the dentists had a positive attitude regarding practicing preventive procedure and thought it is for the betterment of their patient. There was no correlation found in the knowledge and attitude scores as well as attitude and practice scores.

Dentists had average knowledge and positive attitudes towards fluoride application. Paediatric dentists were more knowledgeable towards practising preventive dentistry and were more likely to manage the high-risk patients more efficiently.