Survey of the Knowledge of General Dentists about the Accurate Prescription of Dental Radiographic Techniques in 2021

Proper knowledge of prescribing correct radiography techniques, especially among general dentists, is important for the accurate diagnosis of dental problems and not receiving additional doses of radiation in patients. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of general dentists about the accurate prescription of radiography in Rafsanjan City 2021.

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 100 questionnaires were completed by general dentists in Rafsanjan City to measure the awareness of radiographic methods in 9 different areas of dentistry, and then the knowledge of dentists in these 9 different areas based on age, gender and work experience was compared using independent sample t-test and ANOVA statistical tests (α=0/05).

In this study 53 (53%) of the dentists were male and 47 (47%) were female. The highest rate of correct answer and score was related to knowledge about radiography in children (90%), panoramic (83%) and bite wing (75%) and the lowest rate was related to periodontal questions (40%). Overall, 12% had poor knowledge, 42% had moderate knowledge and 46% had good knowledge. The overall score of knowledge in male dentists (67%) was significantly higher than in female dentists (60%). With increasing work experience, the level of knowledge about the correct prescription of radiographic techniques decreased significantly (p=0.039).

Although the knowledge of dentists in Rafsanjan City was evaluated well in the case of the correct prescription of radiography in most areas, it is still necessary to train in some areas in retraining courses to improve the knowledge of dentists.