Knowledge and practice of the dental staff about the prevention of communicable diseases. Marianao. 2015-2016

Introduction: The dentist profession has been considered to be, among biomedical disciplines, the one at highest risk of infection during the clinical practice. Objective: To determine the level of knowledge and practice about the prevention of communicable diseases and their relation to the years of professional experience in dental consulting rooms in a group of dentists in Marianao Municipality. Material and methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. The universe of the study was composed of 119 dentists, and 83 dental technicians. A sample of 139 people was studied. The information was obtained by means of a questionnaire, and an observation guide. Results: The level of knowledge of the dentists and technicians was adequate (69.7 % and 71.4 %), respectively. A higher level of knowledge was observed in those dentists and technicians that have been working fewer years since graduation (30.3 % dentists, and 28.6 % technicians). A good prevention practice was observed in 57.9 % of dentists, and malpractice was observed in 57.1 % of technicians. Conclusions: An adequate level of knowledge predominates in the study. The group of one to five years after graduation has the best level of knowledge, whereas the group with more number of years after graduation puts better prevention rules into practice. In general, an insufficient evidence for prevention practice is demonstrated.Keywords:knowledge, practice, communicable diseases and infection, risk of infection.