Attitude and awareness of dental students and interns toward infection control measures in prosthodontic clinics

Objectives: To evaluate the attitude and awareness of the dental students and interns toward infection control measures in prosthodontic clinic and to assess their satisfaction toward applying these measures during prosthodontic treatment. Methods: A questionnaire study was conducted among 360 fourth and fifth dental students and interns (238 males and 122 females) in November 2014 in College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It consisted of 30 close-ended questions related to vaccination status and previous sharp injuries, attitude and awareness towards infection control in prosthodontic clinic, previous education about infection control, and subjects’ satisfaction about their knowledge and attitude. The questionnaire was sent to all students and interns by email to be filled electronically, and informed consent was obtained before commencing the questionnaire. Results: Total of 258 (71.66%) study subjects responded to the questionnaire. Their attitude and awareness toward infection control in prosthodontic clinic was varied between 100% were regularly using gloves with patient to 17.8% were regularly disinfect dental cast before sending it to dental laboratory. Most of the subjects responded “good” or “fair” to the two questions related to the evaluation of their knowledge and policy implementation of infection control in prosthodontic clinic (P<0.0001). Around 43% were almost satisfied and 36% were fairly satisfied with their knowledge and performance. Conclusions: Findings indicate insufficient attitude and awareness of subjects toward infection control in prosthodontic practice. Their self-assessment and satisfaction reflect their performance toward infection control policy. Correspondence to: Ibraheem F Alshiddi, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, P.O. Box 60169 Riyadh 11545, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Tel: +966 (0)14677325; Fax: +966 (0)1 4679015, E-mail: [email protected]