Evaluation of Knowledge and Attitudes of Dentists about HIV/AIDS and Oral Lesions

Objective: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a virus that can cause Infectious Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) when it infects infections by targeting immune system cells and the infection progresses. The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge level of the dentists about the possible transmission of HIV / AIDS, the body fluids of HIV and the oral symptoms of HIV / AIDS, to determine the means of access to information, and to evaluate their attitudes and awareness towards patients. Methods: A questionnaire with 17 items was developed through Survey Monkey system. The link of this questionnaire was sent to dentists through e-mail, SMS, or social networking sites, and they were asked to fill out the questionnaire. 180 dentists filling out the questionnaire were taken as the data collection group. Results: Of the dentists participating in the study, 73% of them were females, and 43% of them were between 31 and 40 ages. Considering the items on oral lesions of HIV / AIDS patients, 39.8% of them responded as oral candidiasis. In questions that measure the level of HIV / AIDS knowledge; 28.4% knew that HIV and AIDS were not the same definition, 99% were infected with unprotected sexual intercourse, blood contact and stab wounds. A significant proportion of dentists; and urine and saliva, cups, towels, as well as common materials used to be infected (20-40%). When the attitudes of the HIV infected patient were evaluated, more than half of there spondents answered without hesitation. When the patients were asked if they were worried about HIV infection, 40% answered yes. They stated that they got their knowledge about HIV / AIDS mostly in the faculty (85%) and written sources (56.1%). 73.3% of the dentists stated that they did not have enough information about HIV / AIDS and oral lesions and they wanted their information to be updated. Conclusions: Although the knowledge level of the dentists in our study was generally acceptable, it was observed that there was misinformation and attitude about the transmission routes of HIV. It is thought that updating the information about the dentists working in the field after graduation is important.