Abstract
A prospective survey of percutaneous injuries in dental post graduates during periodontal procedures.
Highlights
An estimated 0.6-0.8 million percutaneous injuries (PI) occur among health care workers (HCWs) annually.[1,2] These injuries predispose the HCWs to more than 20 different infections from blood borne pathogens, many of which can be potentially fatal.[3,4] Dental health care providers (DHCP) are routinely exposed to patient’s blood, oral fluids and tissues, all of which may potentially carry lethal blood borne viruses (BBV)
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) carried out a number of studies to establish the risk of transmission in dental settings and establish guidelines for universal precautions to be followed during dental procedures.[5]
Occupational exposures to blood borne pathogens can occur as a result of percutaneous injuries during periodontal procedures
Summary
An estimated 0.6-0.8 million percutaneous injuries (PI) occur among health care workers (HCWs) annually.[1,2] These injuries predispose the HCWs to more than 20 different infections from blood borne pathogens, many of which can be potentially fatal.[3,4] Dental health care providers (DHCP) are routinely exposed to patient’s blood, oral fluids and tissues, all of which may potentially carry lethal blood borne viruses (BBV). The principal blood borne pathogens of concern to the dental staff are Hepatitis B (HBV), Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and the Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). No effective vaccination has been developed against HCV and HIV till date. There are significant numbers of health care workers worldwide who do not receive appropriate vaccination against HBV.[7,8] In view of these continuing occupational threats the quest to develop and apply specific strategies to decrease the incidence of injuries should not be abandoned
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