Abstract
Background: Cross infection control, to reduce the incidence of disease transmission between patients and dental team personnel, is an integral part of good clinical practice. Objective: To assess knowledge, attitude and practice of cross infection control among dental, dental hygiene, and dental technology students. Methods: Data were collected by a self-administrated questionnaire assessing knowledge, attitude, and practice of infection control measures. The questionnaire was published electronically to final year dental, dental hygiene, and dental technology students through student’s official social media groups . Results: Statistically significant difference was found in relation to students' specialization (p-value ≤ 0.05). None of the dental hygienist students had a negative attitude about infection control, while most of participants with a negative attitude were dental technology students (84.6%). No statistically significant difference (p>0.05) was found between groups in regard to cross-infection knowledge, where the level of knowledge ranged from moderate to good. Conclusion: Good knowledge, attitude, and practice were reported for dental and dental hygiene students, while good knowledge with a negative attitude was found amongst dental technology students. Specialty affected the practice of infection control measures, yet gender was not a significant variable. Improvement of the university curriculum, particularly for dental technology students, to increase awareness and knowledge of cross infection control is highly recommended.
Highlights
Cross infection implies the transmission of infection between patients and between patients and health care professionals, which can occur during the treatment of patients if meticulous preventive procedures are not observed. [1 - 3].Infection control has become such an essential part of the practice to the extent that dental health workers (DHW) no longer question its necessity [4]
Good knowledge, attitude, and practice were reported for dental and dental hygiene students, while good knowledge with a negative attitude was found amongst dental technology students
Specialty affected the practice of infection control measures, yet gender was not a significant variable
Summary
Cross infection implies the transmission of infection between patients and between patients and health care professionals, which can occur during the treatment of patients if meticulous preventive procedures are not observed. Infection control has become such an essential part of the practice to the extent that dental health workers (DHW) no longer question its necessity [4]. The objective of crossinfection control is mainly to decrease the number of pathogenic microorganisms [5] and to reduce the risk of spreading diseases. Compliance with infection control strategies is the key in preventing the spread of infections among patients and DHWs [9]. To reduce the incidence of disease transmission between patients and dental team personnel, is an integral part of good clinical practice
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