Knowledge of Dentists about Tuberclosis in Shiraz, 2014

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious and contagious disease caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis. Dentists are susceptible to TB. Thus,the aim of this study is to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of dentists regarding TB. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional and descriptive-analytic study evaluated the knowledge of 120 dentists regarding TB. Using a questionnaire the queries were divided into three categories: 1) general aspects of TB, 2) treatment of TB, and 3) drug interactions and dental management of patients with TB. The relation existing among different categories of the questionnaire and the relation between dentists’ gender and their TB knowledge about were evaluated using the Mann–Whitney test. Results: A positive correlation between the dentist’s knowledge about treatment and drug interaction domains and their age and experience was demonstrated, although general aspects and total score were not affected by aging. There was no significant difference between the knowledge about general aspects of TB and its treatment and drug interactions; however, a significant difference was found between dental management and the knowledge about general aspects of TB (p = 0.040). Conclusion: This study concluded that the dentists’ knowledge about TB is poor. Hence, promoting this knowledge among these professionals is necessary.