Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice of Guided Dentistry Among Dental Personnel of North India: A Cross-Sectional Study

Cureus. 2024 Oct 21;16(10):e71991. doi: 10.7759/cureus.71991. eCollection 2024 Oct.

Abstract

Objective The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and awareness of guided dentistry among various dental professionals. Materials and methods The study was carried out as a cross-sectional descriptive observational study among dental professionals (students, practitioners, and teaching faculty in academic institutions) in North India. A web-based electronic survey using Google Forms was designed to obtain the responses of participants toward awareness of guided dentistry and its applications in dentistry. A total of 2200 responses were collected with a response rate of 71.6%. The stratified sampling method was used to allocate participants into different strata. Results Among different professionals, teaching faculty in academics had the highest level of awareness about the concept of guided dentistry. Academic lectures and dental workshops were the major sources of information about this concept. A significantly higher level of awareness regarding the Dynamic Navigation System was there among academicians as compared to other dental professionals (p<0.01). Expensive nature and limited learning opportunities were cited as the major cause for the limited practice of this procedure. Conclusions Within the limitation, the majority of dental professionals in North India had a decent awareness of guided dentistry but a limited clinical approach owing to strata-specific factors. Academic faculty, dental students, and dental practitioners had better awareness and positive attitudes toward its frequent clinical approach.

Keywords: computer-assisted dynamic navigation; guided dentistry; guided endodontics; static guided endodontics; survey..