Dental Practitioners’ Perception toward Management of Physically Challenged Patient among Saudi Arabia

AIM AND OBJECTIVE: The aim of the current study is to evaluate the knowledge of dental practitioners in Saudi Arabia about managing physically challenged patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional digitalized survey was conducted among dental practitioners including both male and female. The questionnaire consisted of 20 items which included years of dental practice, previous experience treating a physically challenged patient, and any difficulties handling such cases. The survey was distributed through E-mail, social media official accounts. Chi-square test was used to investigate associations between factors using SPSS Pc+ version 22.0 statistical software package (Chicago, IL. WA). RESULTS: A total of 2030 dental practitioners participated in this study. The majority (91.0%) reported that their university was not good enough in preparing them to treat a physically challenged patient and they need to have more knowledge to treat them. Hearing impairment reported as the hardest to manage. Two-third (66.6%) reported that their clinic does not have the facilities to help in managing such patients. Statistically, a significant association was found between gender and most of the items of perception (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Treating physically challenged patients considered as a challenge for most of the dental practitioners in Saudi Arabia. Dental school should provide more courses and training programs about how to manage physically challenged patients. The use of communicating technology tools is highly recommended to manage those patients.