COVID-19 AWARENESS, ITS RELATION WITH PERIODONTAL DISEASES, AND PRACTICE AMONG DENTAL PROFESSIONALS IN RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the most pressing and prevalent health issue worldwide. Globally, it has claimed thousands of lives. The majority of people who are infected suffer mild to moderate illnesses. Periodontal disease management is vital during this period when dentistry is operating below its pre-COVID-19 capacity levels. This is a cross-sectional study conducted among Saudi dental professionals using an online survey. 300 dentists from Riyadh city will be utilized in this study. An online questionnaire was constructed to measure the awareness and effects. The statistical analysis reported that more than half the sample comprised female participants (66.2%), and the majority of participants were with working experience of few than 10 years working as general dentists. 68.9% of them thought COVID-19 could be asymptomatic, and 53.4% think telephonic staging is safe. Manual scaling is thought to have a higher risk of spreading infection. 62.1% possess fumigators in a clinic, 69.4% refrain in peak pandemic from performing non-emergency periodontal cases, and 43.4% thought COVID had affected overall periodontal practice. In the present study, findings revealed that the majority of dental experts believe in precautions, COVID-19 relevance to periodontitis, its complications, and people at higher risks of complications with other diseases. The difference in experience exists in general dentists and specialists on preferred mouth rinse manual scaling as a procedure at risk of spreading infection. COVID-19 affected overall practice according to a majority of participants.