Knowledge, Attitude, and Barriers to Fluoride Application as a Preventive Measure among Oral Health Care Providers
Table 3
Logistic regression model for dentists who believed (dependent variable) that water fluoridation is the most effective fluoride regimen to prevent dental caries in children.
Variables
Systemic (%)
Topical (%)
Caries cannot be prevented (%)
Odds ratio
CI (95%)
Gender
Males
55.1
39.0
5.9
0.26
0.46–0.98
0.48
Females (reference)
50.8
49.2
0.0
—
—
—
Age group (years)
≤30
51.8
43.5
4.7
0.66
1.11–2.43
0.46
31–45
53.8
41.8
4.4
0.90
0.51–2.32
0.21
≥46 (reference)
55.6
44.4
0.0
—
—
—
Region of undergraduate dental education
North America
71.0
29.0
0.0
1.55
2.58–0.52
0.003
Europe
63.3
33.3
3.3
0.90
1.88–0.07
0.07
Asia
54.5
43.2
2.3
0.66
1.67–0.35
0.20
Middle East (reference)
44.7
48.2
7.1
—
—
—
Specialty
General dental practitioner
50.4
44.3
5.2
0.05
1.22–1.12
0.93
Specialists caring for children
62.1
37.9
0.0
0.53
1.54–0.49
0.31
Other specialists (reference)
55.6
40.7
3.7
—
—
—
Years of practice
≥10
51.6
43.4
4.9
0.25
−0.81–1.31
0.65
<10 (reference)
58.1
39.2
2.7
—
—
—
Area of practice
Rural
50.0
43.9
6.1
0.18
0.50–0.85
0.61
Urban (reference)
55.4
41.5
3.1
—
—
—
Work place
Primary care clinics
51.2
47.5
1.2
0.25
0.91–1.42
0.67
Specialty care clinics
52.7
40.7
6.6
0.54
0.48–1.55
0.30
Private (reference)
65.5
34.5
0.0
—
—
—
Topically applied fluoride has no risk of overdosing
