Abstract

Abstract : In our day to day clinical practice, X-radiation plays a vital role in oral diagnosis and treatment planning. However, radiations are harmful and causes biological damage to the human body.[1,2] Hence, to have the benefits outweigh the risks, it is essential to inculcate awareness regarding radiation protection measures among the dental students. The aim of this study is to evaluate the knowledge and attitude regarding radiation hazards and practice of protection measures among the undergraduate dental students in a teaching dental institute of western Indian state.
Methodology: The study was conducted on 200 randomly selected undergraduate dental students from 3rd year, final year and intern categories. The information was collected from each participant through a structured questionnaire consisting of 28 close ended questions. The data were analysed using SPSS version 17, the chi-square test was used to assess the association of knowledge and attitude regarding radiation hazards and practice of protection measures with the participants having different educational qualification.
Results: The response of the participants was non-uniform and the knowledge, attitude and awareness about radiation protection was highest in dental interns followed by third and final year students.
Conclusion: There is need to cope with the knowledge deficit among the students through conducting regular workshops and update them with recent researches and protocol.