Professional protocol and rational outlook of dentists towards SDF

SDF has gained immense popularity worldwide in the recent years due to its dual performance brought about by inhibiting bacterial growth as well as promoting the remineralisation of dental hard tissues. This study aims to evaluate the knowledge and attitude among dentists towards Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF). The present study is an online survey which was designed using Google forms, to gather information about the knowledge and professional protocol followed by dentists for SDF use in their respective operatories. Written informed consent was obtained from the participants after explaining to them the purpose of the study. The detailed questionnaire comprised of two sections. First section comprised of 15 questions which inquired about SDF knowledge and protocols followed for its use by dentists. Second section analyzed rational outlook of dentists towards SDF. Sample selection was done by simple random sampling and questionnaire Google link was circulated among 224 dentists. The mean age group of the participants is 33.82 ± 12 years. A statistically significant difference was found between the participant and the use of SDF in operatory, its application for performance in cavitated or non cavitated lesions, application intervals and the potential problems associated with SDF use. A majority of dentist (62.5%) knew that 38% concentration of SDF to be used among the children which is statistically significant. (p value ≤0.05).A lack of self-reported knowledge was most frequently reported concerning the use and application of SDF among patients to arrest carious lesions in primary and permanent teeth in a dental setting. Thus further studies can be of excellent utility especially for whole community with limited resources instead of using costly preventive strategies.