Attitude of Dentists Towards Radiography, Radiographic Equipment, Radiation Protection and Choice of Digital Imaging Methods in Cairo, Egypt-A Questionnaire Based Cross-Sectional Study

Settings:

• The sample size has been calculated according to population of dentists recorded in the Egyptian Dental Syndicate.
• Keeping in mind the difficulty in obtaining registered dentists' names and postal addresses, unreliable postal system and anticipated low response rate to a postal survey, it was decided to deliver and collect the questionnaires by hand.
• To prepare the questionnaire, a review of the literature was performed and the variables were determined.
• Questionnaires have been created in two forms according to the Type of Image receptor
• Form A will be for Dentists who use Film Packets
• Form B will be for Dentists who use Digital receptors
• The questionnaire includes a covering letter with an informed consent
• The cover letter provided in both English and Arabic, explaining the MSc research project and details of the project supervisor. The cover letter stated that by completing the questionnaire the participating dentists would be giving their voluntary consent to participate in the study.

Data Sources / Measurements:

• Some of the questions will be answered with either yes, no or an open alternative. For some of the questions several answers will be given; others were designed as an array of claims using a rating scale
• Questionnaires will be distributed randomly and manually on multiple refresher courses and congresses throughout the country.
• If necessary by a personal interview. The interview involved the author asking the dentists questions directly and noting down the replies without any elaboration or further explanation of the questionnaire.
• Forms of Questionnaires will be distributed according to dentist's choice in the first question which will be asked orally about the type of receptor is used during routine practice
• Paper based questionnaire will be distributed in envelope and returned to the researcher closed non marked to ensure confidentiality
• Prospective Data Analysis will be performed after the Questionnaires being collected
• The study will be conducted in department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Cairo University.
• The guidelines were derived from the American Dental Association 2006 recommendations

Addressing potential sources of bias