Abstract
©2020|Published by Scholars Middle East Publishers, Dubai, United Arab Emirates538Saudi Journal of Oral and Dental ResearchAbbreviated Key Title: Saudi J Oral Dent ResISSN 2518-1300(Print)|ISSN 2518-1297(Online)Scholars Middle East Publishers, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesJournal homepage:https://saudijournals.com/sjodrOriginal ResearchArticleElucidating the Awareness of Dental Doctors in Following Dental Protocol by M.O.H about the COVID-19 Pandemic in KSADr. Aisha Zakaria Hashem Mostafa*, Fatimah Saud AlShammari, Motieah Hathal AlShammari, Nada Nasser AlMansour, Beshaeir Klaeif Albalwi, Lamia Nafea AlShammari, Malak Farraj Altwalah, Fatima SultanaDepartment of Dentistry, Hail University, Hail, Saudi ArabiaDOI:10.36348/sjodr.2020.v05i11.003| Received:03.11.2020| Accepted:15.11.2020| Published:19.11.2020*Corresponding author:Dr. Aisha Zakaria Hashem MostafAbstractThe causative organism for the COVID-19 is severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)virus. The common symptoms of the COVID-19 are: fever, dry cough and fatigue while the less common symptoms are: aches and pain, sore throat, diarrhoea, conjunctivitis, headache, loss of taste and smell, rash on skin, and discolouration of fingers and toes.Several studies reported that person of any age can be infected by the virus, but elderly patients with systemic diseases were more vulnerable to the virus. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), dentistry is the profession with high mode of exposure to the Covid-19 virus. The statistics as recorded on 20thOctober, 2020 shows that there are a total of 342,968 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia, with 5,217 deaths and 329,270 recovered cases. The Ministry of Health (MOH) of Saudi Arabia proposed a dental emergency protocol during the COVID-19 pandemic on 13thApril, 2020. This dental emergency protocol guides the triage, assessment and provision of the emergency dental treatment during the current COVID-19 pandemic. The dental care was divided into 4 by the Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia in this dental emergency protocol as: Emergent dental care, urgent dental care, non-urgent dental care and Advice and self-care. The main aim of this study is to assess the awareness of dental doctors in following dental protocol by M.O.H about the covid-19 in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A pre-designed questionnaire is circulated online using Google form to record the results of the survey of elucidating the awareness of dental doctors in following dental protocol by M.O.H about the covid-19 in Saudi Arabia. The data that iscollected from the questionnaire is analysedusing the computer software Statistical package for social sciences that is SPSS 16.The protocol included all the information about the type of orofacial problem and the recommended management related to it. Nearly about 70 to 80 percent of the dental doctors that participated in this survey are aware about all the guidelines provided by the Ministry of Health. Every dental doctor practising in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is to be made aware of all the guidelines and protocol to be followed during the emergency dental care.