Comportamentos na desinfeção das impressões dentárias por médicos dentistas e técnicos de prótese de Viseu

Abstract

AimsTo analyse attitudes, knowledge and education of Dentists and Dental Technicians regarding the disinfection of dental impressions, and to evaluate communication in this context. MethodsThis research covered dentists (n=64) and dental laboratories (n=5) from Viseu, to whom it was distributed a questionnaire to evaluate the behaviour and attitudes on dental impressions disinfection. ResultsAlginate is the material used by all (100%) of the respondents, and prosthodontics is the area with the highest use of this impression material. 60.3% of dentists state that they always disinfect impression materials that are sent to the laboratory. However, 80.0% of the dental laboratories do not receive any notification about it. Chemical disinfection is performed with alcohols, mainly in the form of spray, with effectiveness being the determining factor when selecting the disinfection material. The majority of dentists (65.6%) declared that they do not inform the dental laboratory about the biomaterial's state of disinfection. 80.0% of dental laboratories admitted that they do not rely on the disinfection performed by dentists. ConclusionsThere's a need for additional educational measures regarding infection control practices and improved communication between dentists and dental technicians. Regarding communication and confidence, the results are lower than expected and even contradictory to international literature.