PREVENTIVE MEASURES IMPLEMENTATION AMONG LIBYAN GENERAL DENTISTS AND PROSTHODONTISTS DURING COVID-19 OUTBREAK IN TRIPOLI: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY.

The available knowledge about Covid-19 mandate applying set of strict preventive measures for medical and dental professions. Dental health personnel are considered among high risk occupation group during the pandemic.Objective: This study aimed to assess the level of adherence to the preventive measures against the coronavirus disease and infection control among prosthodontists and general dentists in Tripoli, Libya.Methods: A questionnaire consisting of 8 questions was distributed among dentists who are working in private clinics or public health centers during Covid-19 pandemic, in Tripoli. Dentists were selected randomly to participate in this survey.Results: This study included a total of 70 dentists forming a response rate of about 87,5% (70 dentists participated out of 80 dentists), a total of 19 were prosthodontists and 51 were general dentists. The results showed that only 32% had attended lectures regarding COVID-19. The percentage of dentists who wear PPE during fixing post insertion complete denture complains and during fixing high spots before final cown/ bridge cementation were (60%, and 61.4%) respectively. During dental treatment, all dentists reported they do keep frequent hand hygiene by using ABHR or water and soap, (72.8%) ask their patients for pre procedural mouth rinse before starting the treatment, (62.8%) stated that they use rubber dam during aerosol generating procedures..Conclusions: Libyan dentists in this study showed practicing of moderate infection control procedures to minimize transmission of Covid-19, limited comprehension of what constitutes as emergency dental procedures was recognized. Dentists are required for attending awareness days and workshops in this respect.Keywords: COVID-19, Dentists, Preventive measures, Infection control.