Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Survey Among Endodontic Postgraduate Students Towards Scaffolds in Regenerative Endodontics

Background: Regenerative endodontics aims to regenerate the pulp-dentine complex which got damaged by infection, trauma or developmental anomaly of immature permanent teeth with necrotic pulp. Regenerative endodontic procedures include scaffolds, growth factors and stem cells. Adequate knowledge about each scaffold, their clinical applications and benefits are essential for clinical success in regenerative endodontic procedures. Aim: The aim of the present study is to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practice on scaffolds used in regenerative endodontic procedures among the endodontic postgraduate students of India. Methodology: A cross-sectional questionnaire based study was conducted in 2020 among Endodontic postgraduate students of India. Survey questionnaires were prepared, using Google forms and it was distributed randomly to 236 Endodontic postgraduate students. The obtained results were statistically analysed using SPSS and the graphs were plotted. Results: All the postgraduate students have a general knowledge about what scaffolds are and their uses, however third year endodontic postgraduate students have good knowledge and experience in using scaffolds in their clinical practice compared to first and second year endodontic postgraduate students. Conclusion: Good knowledge and positive attitude towards the use of scaffolds were observed among postgraduate students. However, since most of the first and second year postgraduate students have not started using scaffolds in their practice, a need for clinical training programmes would be efficient.