Attitude and practice of disinfection protocol for different impression materials among practicing dentists in Tamil Nadu - A cross sectional survey.

Abstract Aim: The purpose of this survey was to find the attitude and practice of impression disinfection protocol employed by the practicing dentists in their clinical practice in Tamil Nadu. Materials and Methods: Self-administered validated online website based questionnaires were circulated among dentists practicing in Tamil Nadu. The questions were taken up by dentists who were willing to participate in the survey and a total of 200 responses were recorded. There were two sections to the questionnaire: one included demographic information and the other featured questions regarding the disinfection protocol. The responses were recorded in excel sheet followed by statistical analysis of the data. Results: 97.5% of the dentists routinely rinse the impression with running tap water before sending it to the lab/ prior pouring the cast and 2.5% dentists do not rinse the impressions. 78.9% dentists routinely disinfect the working impressions, whereas 21.1% do not disinfect the working impressions before sending it to the laboratory/ before pouring the casts. 48.2% of the dentists stated that they are unsure whether their lab workers disinfect their preliminary/working impression before pouring casts. 46.9% dentists stated that they do not have disinfection guidelines in their clinic. 81.4% believe that covid-19 spreads by saliva and 73.9% dentists have changed the disinfection protocol for impressions after covid-19. Conclusion: It was found that the majority of respondents rinsed and disinfected the impression with running water and disinfected it on a regular basis for 1-10 minutes. This study also indicates a lack of interaction between the dentists and dental technicians about the information on the disinfection status of the impression sent, as well as a need for increased awareness in order to reduce the disease transmission in dental laboratories. Significant number of dentists have changed their disinfection protocol after covid-19 pandemic