Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perception toward Radiation Hazards and Protection among Dentists in Iraq

Aims: The dentists in Iraq usually operate the process of taking dental radiography by themselves. with the more uses of newer ionizing radiation modalities, there is an increased chance that dentists, co-workers, and patients are liable to face the harmful effect and hazards of radiation especially when there was negligence or ignorance. This study aimed to assess dentists’ knowledge, attitude, and perception toward dental radiation. Instrument Methods: This study was carried out on 322 dentists. The subjects were allocated into 2 groups general dental and dental specialists. Data were collected by a structured questionnaire consisting of 26 items and analyzed using the Chi-square test by SPSS 23 software. Findings: Out of the 322 dentists who participated in the study, 244 (74.6%) were General Dental Practitioners and 78 (23.9%) were specialist dentists. Specialist dentists showed higher knowledge, attitude, and perception values for radiation hazards protection than general dentists.  Conclusion: From the results obtained in this study, it was clear that the knowledge, attitude, and perception level concerning radiation protection was higher among specialist dentists compared to general dental practitioners.