Knowledge and Attitudes of Dentists toward Adhesive System Selection: A Cross-sectional Study from Palestine

The aim of this study was to determine the attitudes and knowledge of dentists in Palestine toward selecting adhesive agents for different clinical procedures and to investigate whether the time of clinical practice influences their choices.

A questionnaire was randomly sent by e-mail to 500 dentists registered with the Palestinian Dental Association. The questionnaire consisted of nine close-ended questions. The first two questions focused on demographics, whereas the other questions aimed to evaluate the respondents' knowledge toward selecting adhesive agents for different restorative procedures.

Statistical analysis was carried out using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software, version 16.0 (IBM, Armonk, New York). Descriptive analysis was obtained and the frequency of distribution was calculated in percentages. Nonparametric chi-square test was used to analyze the difference in the distribution of the preference of different bonding choices overall for every treatment scenario. Fisher's exact test with the Monte Carlo method was used to verify the association between the adhesive agent of choice and years of experience.

The response rate was 74%. The respondents' choices were significantly different in all suggested treatment procedures (P < 0.05). A correlation was found between time since graduation and the choice of adhesive agent (P < 0.05).

Irrespective of restorative treatment scenario, respondents' selection of adhesive agents diverged from recommendations made by the literature. Further efforts should be made to improve the level of knowledge of general dentists on this topic.