COVID-19 safe dental practices among a group of Egyptian students: a cross-sectional study

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BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous effect on dental practice. Dental practice during the pandemic has been associated with an increased risk of COVID-19 transmission. Adopting proper infection control measures in dentistry helps alleviate the risk of infection. The pandemic has created an even more challenging environment for dentists to perform their job safely, thus necessitating the adoption of very strict infection control measures for safe dental practice. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) regarding COVID-19 safe dental measures among dentistry students currently in clinical training. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted. The study included a total of 104 dental students, who took clinical practical sessions in a nongovernmental dentistry school, in Egypt. Data collection was performed via an online questionnaire. RESULTS: This study found that a total of 88.5% of the dental students had a satisfactory safe dental measures practice score. A total of 93.2% of the students had a positive attitude towards safe dental measures. Practice of hand hygiene was the most common safe dental practice among the students, and they practiced it all the time (82.7%), whereas checking patient temperature was the least common practice (28.8%). There was a statistically significant association between sex and hand hygiene (p = 0.023), checking patient temperature (p = 0.046). There was a positive moderate correlation between students' safe dental practice score and their attitude score (r = 0.470, p < 0.001). There was a weak inverse correlation between safe dental practice score and age (p = 0.029, r = (- 0.214)). CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS: This study highlights key strengths and gaps in dental education, reinforcing the importance of safety protocols in enhancing professional standards and safeguarding public health. The findings support the integration of pandemic-era measures into standard infection control practices. Nonetheless, specific domains-particularly temperature screening and knowledge regarding the application of HEPA filtration systems-require further emphasis and curricular enhancement.

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