A study on awareness, knowledge, and practice of radiation exposure protection protocols by dentists in a Nigerian teaching hospital

The role of dental radiography cannot be over-emphasized but the harmful effect of its radiation cannot be overlooked, thereby making the knowledge and practice of exposure protection very important. While studies on awareness, knowledge, and practice exposure protection are available in other countries, it appears that there is a dearth of such studies in our environment. The aim of this survey was to assess the awareness, knowledge, and practice of radiation hazards and exposure protection techniques of dentists in a Nigerian teaching hospital. This cross-sectional study design was conducted between December 2022 and February 2023 at the dental complex of a Nigerian teaching hospital among dental practitioners. The data were collected with a 23-item, structured, close-ended, and self-administered questionnaire. The data collected were age, gender, department of respondents, medical status, years of experience, and additional degree. Other collected data were awareness, knowledge, and practice of radiation protection. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were performed. The data were entered and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 26 (IBM, Armonk, NY, United States of America). A critical probability level (P < 0.05) was used as the cutoff level for statistical significance. A total of 100 questionnaires were distributed, and 82 were retrieved, giving a response rate of 82%. The mean age of the respondents was 45.3 ± 5.1 years. There were more males (58.5%) with a male-to-female ratio of 1.4:1. The prevalence of poor awareness and inadequate knowledge of radiation exposure protection was 48.2% and 22.4%, respectively. The prevalence of poor practice toward radiation exposure was 66.7%. Only years of experience and additional degree influenced the prevalence of inadequate knowledge of radiation exposure (P < 0.05). The prevalence of poor awareness, inadequate knowledge, and poor practice of radiation exposure protection, with values of 48.2%, 22.4%, and 66.7%, respectively, were quite high. The prevalence of inadequate knowledge of radiation exposure protection was influenced by years of practice and additional degrees.