The knowledge, attitude and practices of Turkish general dentists on dental x-rays in pregnant women

Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practices of the general dental dentists working in Turkey on the dental x-rays in pregnant women; and to develop awareness for the purpose of not delaying their dental treatments. Methodology: The questionnaire that was used in the study was applied to 270 dental dentists who worked in Turkey in electronic medium. The questionnaire consisted of 2 sections each of which had 11 questions. In the first section, the demographical data were questioned. In the second section, there were questions to determine the knowledge, attitude and practices of the dentists on x-ray in pregnant women. The questionnaires that were completed were examined and analyzed statistically by using the results and the Chi-Square Test and the Chi-Square Test. Data analysis was performed by using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 23.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, the USA). Results: A total of 71.1% of the dental practitioners who participated in the study stated that they did not request radiography from pregnant women. A total of 62.2% of the dental dentists stated that they preferred the 2nd Trimester for requesting radiography. A total of 38.9% of the general dentists who participated in the study stated that the diagnostic radiographies used in dentistry caused anomalies in the fetus, 18.9% stated that they did not have any information. Conclusion: Further training courses must be planned to increase and update the awareness of the dental dentists on the precautions and procedures for radiography practice in pregnant women; and brochures must be prepared for pregnant women to provide information about this subject. Also, dental dentists and obstetricians should work in agreement about dental procedures in pregnancy and diagnostic radiography in terms of its being safe when necessary.   How to cite this article: Temur KT, Temur İ, Hatipoğlu Ö.  The knowledge, attitude and practices of Turkish general dentists on dental x-rays in pregnant women. Int Dent Res 2019;9(1):9-15.    Linguistic Revision: The English in this manuscript has been checked by at least two professional editors, both native speakers of English.