knowledge of iranian dentists, dental specialists, and dental students towards covid-19: a preliminary survey of 778 subjects

Background: covid-19 is a serious pandemic. however, no studies worldwide have assessed the knowledge of any healthcare workers, including dentists, towards covid-19. objectives: given the importance of iran as an epicenter of this disease, this preliminary study assessed the knowledge of dentists, dental students, and dental specialists towards covid-19. methods: in this crosssectional study, a questionnaire with 23 questions (three regarding sources of information and 20 regarding knowledge) was developed through a pilot study. it was distributed electronically to dental professions/students, 778 of whom completed it. factors associated with knowledge were assessed using the chisquare test in spss (α = 0.05). results: above 70% of the responders answered correctly to all questions, except for six more technical questions, including handwashingrelated questions. age, specialization, and attendance at lectures and meetings did not play a role in grasping accurate information (all p values > 0.1). men had poorer information (p = 0.014), and the sources of information were mostly official websites and social networks (p = 0.000). conclusions: knowledge of dentists, dental students, and specialists towards sars-cov-2 is generally good, except in the case of more technical questions that need more education (especially regarding handwashing).