Assessment of the Knowledge and Attitude of Dental Students and Intern Practitioners about the Nanotechnology in Dentistry at KSA

Background: Nanotechnology can be defined as the science involved in the design, synthesis, characterization, and application of materials and devices whose smallest functional organization in at least one dimension is on the nanometer scale. Aim: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess the knowledge and attitude of dental students and intern practitioners about the nanotechnology in dentistry at KSA. Materials and methods: An online questionnaire was distributed through the link shared to dental students and intern practitioners via social networking websites. A simple random sample comprised of 306 participants almost distributed across the five geographical regions of Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire was designed to obtain information about the basic knowledge and attitude about nanotechnology being used worldwide for better dental treatment. It consisted of two parts: Part A: Biographic and demographic data of the participants. Part B: Knowledge and Attitude towards nanotechnology in dentistry was focused. Statistical analysis of the data was performed. Frequency distribution and Chi-square analysis were used to determine if there were any relationships and statistically significant differences between knowledge and attitude of nanotechnology in dentistry with biographic and demographic factors. Results: Out of the 306 participants' response, 213 (69.3%) had heard about the nanotechnology and the main source of information about nanotechnology in dentistry was Internet (32.1%). Only (26.4%) of participates use nanomaterial in their university and (73.6 %) didn't use it. (52.1%) of them strongly disagree with nanotechnology will have a wide application in future. Conclusion: This study revealed that there is lack of awareness on Nanotechnology application in dentistry among the dental students and intern practitioners at Saudi Arabia.