Endocarditis prophylaxis in dental practice: Evaluation of knowledge among dental students, paediatric dentistry residents and specialists in paediatric dentistry

Abstract

Objective: We aimed to determine the degree of knowledge about endocarditis prophylaxis (EP) among dental students, pediatric dentistry residents, and specialists in pediatric dentistry, and to identify the areas of knowledge that require attention. Material and methods: this is a cross-sectional research including 155 participants divided into three study groups. respondents completed a questionnaire to evaluate their knowledge on EP consisting of three domains: dental procedures, dose/medication, and heart condition. Data were examined through analysis of variance (ANoVA) using generalized linear models. Results: We stratified EP knowledge into three areas: dental procedures (no differences), dose/medication (statistically significant difference between group 2 and 3 [84.62% vs. 38.89%, p =0.044]) and heart condition (no differences but low degree of knowledge [35.48%, 53.85%, and 44.44%]). Conclusions: the three groups had inadequate knowledge of dental procedures. Pediatric dentistry residents showed a greater knowledge in the dose/medication area. Finally, the three groups require more attention and reinforcement in the heart condition area. it is thus necessary to reinforce EP knowledge in undergraduate and postgraduate programs and to encourage pediatric dentists to keep up-to-date in this issue.