Abstract :
This study was conducted to explore the characteristics of general dental practitioners who use magnification, their perception of using the devices routinely and to identify factors affecting the decision to use magnification aids. In this survey, respondents were approached via convenience sampling in six dental conferences from northern, central, and southern regions of Malaysia. A total of 582 dentists completed the self-administered questionnaire survey which consisted of items on demographics, pattern of magnification device use and perceptions associated with use of the devices. Respondents were mostly females (64.9%), from the urban setting (48.9%), government-employed (59.0%), and did not have any post-graduate qualifications (95.2%). Only one-quarter (24.9%) of the respondents used magnification devices in their clinical practice. Dental loupe without illumination is the most common device employed (43.7%), followed by dental loupe with illumination (32.5%) and dental operating microscope (23.8%). Factors that were associated with magnification use were gender, years of practice, practice setting, postgraduate qualification, and prior training (Fisher’s exact test, p < 0.005). The main reasons cited for using magnification devices were related to visual acuity (91.1%) and body posture (8.9%) while the main reasons for not using such devices were cost (38.5%) and lack of exposure (34.8%). Mainstream dental practitioners in this study are inclined towards the use of magnification devices if the price is within acceptable range. There is a need to make such devices affordable and to include their use in the training of dental students.
