Awareness of COVID-19 amongst undergraduate dental students in India – A questionnaire based cross-sectional study

Abstract Background Coronavirus disease caused by SARS-COV2, a potentially fatal disease has become a global public health concern. As the understanding of this novel disease is evolving, dental students and professionals should have an in-depth knowledge and understanding and should be updated with the practices that have to be adapted to identify a possible COVID-19 infection. Aim and Objectives To assess awareness about COVID-19 amongst undergraduate dental students. Material and methods A 28-item self-administered close ended questionnaire assessing awareness about COVID-19 was shared through online portal. Statistical analysis was performed at 95% confidence intervals with p value <0.05; statistically significant. Results The maximum number of students were in the average knowledge category (48.9%), followed by good knowledge (47.5%) Our results show that the overall mean knowledge score of all the undergraduate students was 12.67 (+ 2.98), which comes under the category “Good”. The practice domain states that most of the students were first informed of the disease through media. Conclusion The undergraduate dental students in different colleges in India are well aware of the different clinical aspects of the disease. More emphasis should be put on updating their knowledge regarding the diagnosis and treatment component of the COVID-19 disease.