KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PERCEPTION OF PIT AND FISSURE SEALANT ON DECAY - A SURVEY

Introduction: Oral diseases pose a major health burden for many countries and affect people throughout their lifetime, causing pain, discomfort, disfigurement and even death. Untreated dental caries (tooth decay) in permanent teeth is the most common health condition according to the Global Burden of Disease 2017. More than 530 million children suffer from dental caries of primary teeth (milk teeth). Severe periodontal (gum) disease, which may result in tooth loss, is also very common, with almost 10% of the global population affected. Aim: To assess the knowledge, attitude and perception of pit and fissure sealants on decay Materials and methods: Questionnaires containing 20 questions were circulated among the random age population. Responses from the participants were collected and exported to SPSS software. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS. Results and Discussion: More than 83% of individuals answered that pit and fissure sealants are used mostly in occlusal surfaces. Around 69% of individuals replied that for caries, food particles and microorganism pit and fissure sealants act as physical barriers. Conclusion: Our present study concludes that knowledge, attitude and perception of pit and fissure sealants was found to be moderate. More awareness programs need to be created.