Knowledge and Attitude of Dentists toward Silver Diamine Fluoride in Saudi Arabia

Abdullah Faraj Alshammari; Rana Homoud Alenzi; Ashwaq Abdullah Alanezi; Abdulmjeed Sadoon Enizy; Ahmed Mohmmed Aldakhil; Khlood Abdulkader Alkurdi

doi:10.5005/jp-journals-10005-2009

Knowledge and Attitude of Dentists toward Silver Diamine Fluoride in Saudi Arabia

Int J Clin Pediatr Dent. 2021 Sep-Oct;14(5):662-665. doi: 10.5005/jp-journals-10005-2009.

Authors

Abdullah Faraj Alshammari¹, Rana Homoud Alenzi², Ashwaq Abdullah Alanezi³, Abdulmjeed Sadoon Enizy⁴, Ahmed Mohmmed Aldakhil⁵, Khlood Abdulkader Alkurdi⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Basic Dental and Medical Science, College of Dentistry, University of Hail, Hail, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
² King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
³ Ministry of Health, Najran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Dentistry, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Dental Research Center, College of Dentistry, Qassim University, Buraidah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.

Abstract

Introduction: Dental caries is managed by two approaches: prevention which focuses on inhibiting the caries progression, and the traditional approach which is treating caries by drilling and filling. Logically, the first approach is more effective. One of the recently marketed preventive methods for preventing and inhibiting the progression of dental caries is silver diamine fluoride (SDF), which is proven to be minimally invasive and cost-effective, SDF has proven to have a significant success rate in caries prevention, especially in the early childhood caries.

Objective: The study aims to evaluate general practitioners' SDF clinical experience, knowledge, professional behavior, and attitudes.

Materials and methods: The study was a cross-sectional study and we utilized a random sampling of Saudi general dental practitioners from different places in the Hail region, KSA. The study was conducted using papered interview and an online questionnaire followed by educating the dentists about SDF.

Results: Dentists were asked about SDF, 62.7% answered that they heard about SDF topical application, but the dentists who answered all questions correctly are only 14.89% with no statistically significant difference among gender, age, or sector.

Conclusion: This study had several limitations. It only included the dental GPA in the Hail region, Saudi Arabia. As is the case with all surveys, only a limited number of questions could be asked. Thus, the information to be obtained is also limited. Future research should therefore include other questions to clarify other aspects which we could not explore in this research.

How to cite this article: Alshammari AF, Alenzi RH, Alanezi AA, et al. Knowledge and Attitude of Dentists toward Silver Diamine Fluoride in Saudi Arabia. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2021;14(5):662-665.

Keywords: Arrested caries; Caries; Pediatric dentist; Prevention; Primary dentition; Silver diamine fluoride.