ASSESSMENT OF EDUCATION, KNOWLEDGE, AND ATTITUDES OF PEDIATRIC DENTISTS ABOUT SILVER DIAMINE FLUORIDE IN A COUNTRY WITHOUT OFFICIAL APPROVAL FOR IT AS A PREVENTIVE TREATMENT

Objectives: The aim of this study is to assess the Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF) knowledge, attitudes, and experiences of pediatric dentists in Turkey and explore the relationships between participants' demographic characteristics and their education, knowledge level, and attitudes towards SDF.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 245 pediatric dentists answered an online questionnaire about SDF, which was created electronically (Google Forms) and consisted of four parts, between January to March 2021.Results: The mean age was 33.9 +/- 8.4 (24-70) years and the mean duration of experience as a pediatric dentist was 5 (1-35) years. When the participants were analyzed according to age and academic status, the majority of the participants were aged from 24 to 35 years (69.3%) and were specialists without academic titles (62%). Of the participants, 65.7% were employed in university and state hospitals. Among the participants, 80.4% expressed that they gained their knowledge and educational experience on SDF from dental journals and other publications during their professional life. The correlation analysis revealed a negative correlation between age and education score (p < 0.001, r = - 0.362) and a positive correlation between age and knowledge score (p < 0.001, r = 0.229). Although there was a statistically significant difference in SDF education scores between specialists without academic titles and academics in favor of the specialists (p < 0.001), academics had higher knowledge scores than non-academic specialists (p < 0.001. When the education, knowledge and attitude scores was analyzed, a positive correlation was found between knowledge and attitude scores (p < 0.001, r = 0.507). With logistic regression, it was found that academics tended to use SDF 2.6 times (1.22-5.40) more than non-academic participants and women 2.3 times (1.07-4.76) more than men in future.Conclusions: Providing adequate clinical and theoretical knowledge about SDF during dental medicine education may help pediatric dentists in increasing the preference rates of SDF in clinical practice.