Background: Awareness of post-extraction instruction is essential to avoid any complications and untoward events after the removal of a tooth. Hence the purpose of the study was to assess the knowledge of dental post-extraction instructions among the general public in the Riyadh region of Saudi Arabia.
Materials and method: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted among the general public [n=603, (male=147, female=456)] in the Riyadh region of Saudi Arabia. A reliable and valid questionnaire consisting of demographic information and 10 questions on post-extraction instructions was prepared and an online link of the questionnaire was shared through the social media platform. The questionnaire responses were collected and analysis was performed. Descriptive statistics, chi-square test, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were applied to compare the knowledge across different groups. A level of significance was set at p< 0.05.
Results: An overall mean knowledge score of 5.12±1.34 was observed among the study participants. Comparison of mean knowledge between male vs female (4.88 vs 5.20, p=0.004) showed significantly higher knowledge of post-extraction instructions among females than males. While study participants aged 15-30 years (4.90) showed significantly lower mean knowledge of post-extraction instructions compared to 31- 45 years (5.36) and 46-60 years (5.42) aged subjects (p<0.001). While study subjects with graduate or higher (5.28) educational level showed significantly higher knowledge of post-extraction instructions than those of high school (4.93) and secondary school (4.87) (p=0.026).
Conclusion: The study participants from the Riyadh region demonstrated adequate knowledge of post-extraction instructions. Female, aged (46-60 years) people and those having graduate/above the level of education had more knowledge of post-extraction instructions compared to others.
