~ 440 ~ International Journal of Applied Dental Sciences 2021; 7(3): 440-444 ISSN Print: 2394-7489 ISSN Online: 2394-7497 IJADS 2021; 7(3): 440-444 © 2021 IJADS www.oraljournal.com Received: 09-05-2021 Accepted: 24-06-2021 Dr. Aparna Ramachandran Postgraduate Student, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Krishnadevaraya College of Dental Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India R Murali Head of the Department, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Krishnadevaraya College of Dental Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India Seemala Jyotsna Postgraduate Student, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Krishnadevaraya College of Dental Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India Evan Cliff Rebello Postgraduate Student, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Krishnadevaraya College of Dental Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India A Shamala Reader, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Krishnadevaraya College of Dental Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India Mansi Yalamalli Reader, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Krishnadevaraya College of Dental Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India Corresponding Author: Dr. Aparna Ramachandran Postgraduate Student, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Krishnadevaraya College of Dental Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India Perceptions and beliefs related to covid 19 among patients visiting a dental hospital in Bangalore Dr. Aparna Ramachandran, R Murali, Seemala Jyotsna, Evan Cliff Rebello, A Shamala and Mansi Yalamalli DOI: https://doi.org/10.22271/oral.2021.v7.i3g.1333 Abstract Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) is an emergent respiratory infection caused by the most recently discovered severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). The control of communicable diseases depends mainly on the local population’s knowledge, perceptions, and beliefs. The strict observance of precautionary measures to avoid spreading this disease to the masses is key to controlling it. Therefore the present study aims to assess the knowledge, perceptions, and beliefs towards Covid 19 among the patients visiting a dental hospital in Bangalore. Methods: A pretested closed-ended questionnaire was administered by interview method to 155 participants visiting the outpatient department of a dental college. The first section included demographic data. The second section consisted of 9 questions which assessed patient’s knowledge toward Covid -19 and 5 questions which assessed patients beliefs and perceptions towards Covid 19. Results: A weak Positive correlation (0.30) was seen between educational qualification and knowledge levels which indicated that knowledge levels increased with education and this result was statistically significant with a p-value of <0.001. Gender and age did not show any statistically significant correlation. There was no statistically significant correlation between perceptions and belief scores with age, gender, and educational qualification. Keywords: Covid-19, knowledge, perception, pandemic Introduction Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) is an emergent respiratory infection caused by the recently discovered severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and it was first detected in December 2019 in Wuhan, China [1, 2] . This infection has been transmitted to 213 countries and territories worldwide and infected 25,925,003 people causing 860,857 deaths (as of September 3, 2020) [3] . The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak as a pandemic on March 11, 2020, due to its alarming nature. It has created havoc in the entire World and has affected all aspects of human lives from economies to people’s social lives [1] . With the exponential rise in the number of confirmed cases and deaths per day across the World, the health care system has been affected the most. As a response to the pandemic, countries issued travel restrictions, closed schools, universities, and public services, and placed people in quarantine to alleviate the spread of the disease. While these actions took place, individuals were informed about the pandemic and what individual measures could and should be taken to combat the spread of Covid-19 [4] . In the initial phase of the pandemic social media was filled with sharing Covid-19 related news and articles, some of which were found to be misinformation. The abundance of available information and its ambiguity combined with the novelty of the pandemic situation increased the risk of health anxiety [5] . Myths and misinformation related to various infections have been prevalent from time to time, and it takes a long battle to demystify the existing myths by providing an accurate evidence-based approach [6] . The WHO recommends the risk communication and community engagement efforts to investigate and control “infodemics”, myths and stigma so that the spread of the coronaviru s would be effectively battled.