Knowledge Attitude Practice of Digitial Radiography Among Dentists in Nairobi

The aim of this study was to determine the level of knowledge, the attitudes dentists have towards digital radiography and the level of use of digital radiography in Nairobi.

Methods:

It was a descriptive cross-sectional study with a sample size of 99. The study was based in Nairobi which is the capital city of Kenya and involves dentists in private and public practices. A self-administered questionnaire with structured questions was used to collect the data and distributed among 100 dentists practicing in Nairobi. It was expected that the study would come up with information on the levels of knowledge, attitudes the dentists have towards digital radiography and percentage number of dentists using digital radiography. The results would be used to make recommendations which will help in improving the use of digital radiography and create more awareness.

Results:

A total number of 93 dentists participated in this study. Of this number 52.7% were male and 43.7% females. The age ranged from 24 years to 76 years. Of the 93 dentists, 63.4% had no specialization and 36.6% were non-specialists. It was established that the majority 62.4% of the dentists, had low level of knowledge concerning digital radiography; however, they had a positive attitude (80.6%) towards it. On the practice, most dentists are using conventional radiography 59.1% and only 40.9% are using digital radiography.

Conclusions:

It was found that there is a higher level of conventional radiography utilization than digital usage among the dentists. Majority had a positive attitude on digital radiography. The level of knowledge was also found to be low. Digital radiography seems to be more popular with younger age groups than the older ones and also more popular in private sectors.