Dental practitioners’ knowledge and attitude towards ultrasonography at the UWC faculty of dentistry
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Date
2023
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Universty of the Western Cape
Abstract
Ultrasonography (USG) - a method in which images are created using sound waves - has gained popularity in the medical field due to its cost-effectiveness, accessibility, portability, non-invasiveness, lack of ionizing radiation, and ability to produce real-time images. Yet, despite the high rate of disease and trauma in the country, as well as the shocking waiting times of other imaging modalities like MRI, South Africa is still lagging when it comes to incorporating USG in dentistry. Could the reason for this be due to dental practitioners not being aware of the multiple therapeutic and diagnostic abilities of USG and, therefore not willing to make use of an alternate imaging modality?. The Knowledge-Attitude-Behaviour (KAB) model was developed for health promotion and is based on the idea that knowledge will directly affect a person’s attitude, which in turn indirectly affects their behaviour. Therefore, in this case, if dental practitioners were educated about the uses of USG, their attitude towards using this imaging modality when treating patients could change, eventually leading to increased uptake of USG in clinical practice.
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Keywords
Ultrasound, Diagnostic ultrasonography, Therapeutic ultrasonography, Imaging modalities, Knowledge