Objective: To evaluate the knowledge, beliefs and attitudes related to the SARS outbreak in a cohort of dental practitioners in Hong Kong Methods: A postal questionnaire survey of 1,190 registered dental practitioners in Hong Kong. The questionnaire comprised 24 questions that were designed based on similar previous studies. The survey was conducted anonymously and the questionnaire was collected through the provision of a pre-paid envelope. Results: The response rate to the questionnaire survey was 30.8%. Over half of the dentists (53.8%) were very concerned about contracting SARS when treating their patients. Most believed that the possible routes of transmission of SARS in dentistry could be saliva (88.8%) and/or aerosols from the dental surgery (86.6%). About half of the respondents (52.2%) believed that the SARS Coronavirus could be contracted from dentists who have previously treated SARS patients. A similar percentage of dentists (49.2%) were confident in recognizing the signs and symptoms of SARS and, two-thirds (69.6%) changed their infection control protocols after the SARS epidemic. A few (23.8) have also upgraded their history taking and operative procedures after the outbreak. About one third of them (31.7%) agreed that the identity of the SARS patients should be made public. Conclusions: Although the general knowledge of SARS and its infective agent in this population is adequate further educational programmes may be required to clarify some misconceptions.