Awareness and Clinical Application of Chemo Mechanical Caries Removal Agent among General Dentists and Dental Specialists in the Era Of Covid-19 Pandemic: A Questionnaire Survey

Background and Objectives: Dental caries is treated using a high-speed hand-piece by dentists, but the aerosol producing nature of the hand-piece has become its major disadvantage in the era of Covid-19 pandemic. Chemo Mechanical Caries Removal (CMCR) agent is a minimal invasive, non-aerosol generating technique of caries removal. Hence, the present questionnaire survey was carried out to assess the awareness and clinical application of CMCR agent among general dental practitioners and various dental specialists. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey, consisting of twenty-two questions, was carried out via online platform. A total of 164 dentists contributed to the study. SPSS version 20 was used to analyse the collected data. Chi square test was applied to assess significance. Result: Overall, 87.1% of the participants were aware of CMCR method among which 64.1% were Pedodontists. About 73.2% of dentists among participants accepted CMCR as an effective as well as alternative method of caries removal. Carisolv (33.5%) and papacarie (25%) were preferred by maximum number of participants. Conclusion: Considering the potential advantages, it is strongly recommended to use CMCR agent as an alternative to conventional technique for caries removal.