Preventive Attitudes Regarding Infection Control in the Dental Offices in Iaşi And Botoşani Counties. Comparative Evaluations

Infection control and safety in the dental office represent an essential part of modern dentistry. Aim The study aims to provide comparative evaluation of dentists’ compliance to infection control protocols in Iasi and Botosani counties from Moldavia region of Romania. Methods A cross-sectional study was initiated during January and February 2011 including 66 dentists aged between 25 and 65 years. Information was gathered using a 12-item questionnaire containing questions with one or with many possible answers. Data were statistically analysed using the SPSS 14.0 program and compared with chi-square test (p < 0.05). Results The majority of the dentists work in private individual dental offices (51.5% in Iasi County and 33.3% in Botosani County). Most of the subjects work 4 to 7 hours a day (72.1% in Iasi and 45.2% in Botosani). 33.3% of the dentists from Botosani and 29.1% from Iasi declare that they work with a dental assistant. High percentages of dentists (83.3% in Botosani and 91.6% in Iasi) consider that the equipment for individual protection should be the same and complete, irrespective of the patient’s medical status or required dental treatment. 95.2% of the dentists in Botosani and all of the dentists in Iasi use latex gloves, 92.8% in Botosani and100% in Iasi wear protective mask. In most of the dental offices (87.5% in Iasi, 80.8% in Botosani) the sterilisation is performed using dry heat – Pupinel. The majority of the subjects (64.2% in Botosani and 62.5 % in Iasi) perform hands hygiene when is necessary. The UV lamps are used in 14.2% of the dental offices in Botosani and 12.5% in Iasi. For the dental unit water decontamination the dentists use germicide agents in percentage of 16.6% in Iasi and 24.0% in Botosani. Conclusion Important efforts are necessary in order to improve availability of safety equipment and promote a safety culture in the dental offices. Acknowledgements: This research was supported by the European Project “Ergonomics, prevention and performant management in dental medicine by adopting European standards” Contract: POSDRU/81/3.2/S/55651, 2010- 2013 – Project funded by European Social Fond “Invest in People