ABSTRACT:

Background:  Dental  radiography examinations provide valuable diagnostic information that helps dental professionals solve clinical difficulties. Dental practitioners must exercise extreme caution when recommending x-rays. To reduce patient and practitioner exposure to un-needed radiations, the International Commission on Radiological Protection issued recommendations that included the ALARA Principle "As Low asReasonably Possible”

Objectives: To assess the perception regarding radiation hazards and protection among dental undergraduates,  and  dental  professionals (house officer, graduates, and dental practitioners) in Karachi, Pakistan.

Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study which took around 6 months of duration. The study is conducted using the convenience sampling technique and involves four different dental Institutes in Karachi. The study was performed  on  299  participants.  The  sample size was estimated using open epi sample size calculator version 3.01, by inserting 73.6% prevalence, that  high-speed films reduce the radiographic exposure with 5% margin error and 95% confidence interval. Non-probability, convenience sampling technique was used.

The collection of data was done using a questionnaire which was disseminated to the

participants in the form of a hard copy. It was a self-designed questionnaire which was pre- tested and validated on thirty subjects to check the   reliability   of   the   study.   Content   and construct   validity   showed   no   significant changes.   The   questionnaire   showed   high degree (0.89) of agreement during test-retest of  the  questionnaire.  Data  was  stored  and analyzed using SPSS (version 22.0).

Results: A survey was conducted in which299 participants were selected, working at different government and private dental institutes.Out of these,  53.2%  were  male  and  47.7%  were female participants. Response rate was 11% from   third-year,   16.7%   from   fourth-year,

51.7% from house officers and 20.3%from GDPs. Awareness regarding the ALARA principal   among   third-yearstudentsis   6.2%, and  16.4  %  in  fourth-year  students.Whereas

54.1% of house officers and 23.3% of GDPs knows about theALARA principle

Conclusion: The study entailed 6 months of assessment in four dental institutions of Karachi, on 299 subjects using a questionnaire. A high proportion (0.89) of agreement was marked.Awareness of ALARA Principal rose through 3rd and 4th years, and was the highest in House Officers (54.1%) with a further decline in GDP's (23.3%). In light of adverse impact of dental x-rays, the percentage of subjects that concurred with its dangerous qualities fell, with the highest in third-years and the lowest in GDP's.