Albanian Dentist’s Attitude towards Pain-Free Local Anesthetics in Children, A Country Profile

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to access the Albanian dentist’s attitude and perception toward pain-free dental injections in children. Methods: The survey was conducted in Tirana, Albania. A questionnaire regarding the dentist’s attitude toward “Pain-free Local Anesthetic Techniques in Children” was used. It was structured as anonymous with six closed-ended questions in a Liker scale. Also, dentist information about gender, age, region and years of practice was part of the form. The information collected was analyzed using IBM SPSS 20. Descriptive statistics and one way ANOVA was used in comparing groups. The results were evaluated within a 95% confidence interval. Statistical significance level was established at p<0.05. Results: A total of 203 dentists were included in the study. 86 (42.4%) were male and 117 (57.6%) were female dentists. Their mean age was 35 years old (sd 10.1) and the mean clinical practice experience was 10 years old (sd 9.5). 72 (35.5%) of dentists believed that pain is inevitable during local anesthesia in children and 158 (77.8%) agreed that cotton pallet should be better applied as a topical anesthetics. 128 (63%) of dentists believed in the possibility of pain-free local anesthesia in children. There was a higher agreement in males but not statistically significant. There was a statistically significant higher agreement between dentists in Tirana (the capital) p<0.03 compared with the other regions while experience (p<0.2) and age (p<0.9) did not show any significant change Conclusions: A higher proportion of Albanian dentists believe the importance of pain free dental injections in children. Especially dentists in urban seem to perform pain-free LA injections.