Awareness of Eco-Friendly Dentistry among Dental Faculty and Students of King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia.

INTRODUCTION

Eco-friendly or green dentistry can be a reality by effectively designing dental clinics and using more eco-friendly materials in the clinical practice.

AIM

To determine the awareness of eco-friendly dentistry among dental faculty and students in preparation for future implementation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Assessment of knowledge regarding eco-friendly dentistry was done using an 18 item self-administered questionnaire among 160 participants. After baseline data collection, the intervention was done by educating participants with a power point presentation. The post-intervention data was then collected for analysis. Statistical analysis was done using Wilcoxon's signed rank test and one-way ANOVA.

RESULTS

The educational intervention increased the knowledge about eco-friendly dentistry confirming the importance of continuing education. There was a statistically significant gain in knowledge among the participants after the presentation. The gain was highest for department of Preventive Dental Sciences (PDS) followed by Substitute Dental Sciences (SDS), No specialty, Maxillofacial Dental Sciences (MDS), and Restorative Dental Sciences (RDS) respectively. (F=5.5091, p<0.05).

CONCLUSION

Lack of knowledge of green dentistry amongst the dental fraternity is highly prevailing. The same can be substantiated with effective training in the respective fields if channelized through the curriculum in an educational set-up.