2007 Volume 50 Issue 4 Pages 455-465
Recently, nosocomial infection has been regarded as one of the most crucial administrative issues in general dental clinics and the dental division of general hospitals. In the present study, we investigated the conscious ness of dental practitioners on the prevention and control of nosocomial infection in daily dental care. A questionnaire survey on the prevention and control of nosocomial infection was conducted on 744 dentists, namely, the members of the dental association in Yamaguchi Prefecture. The contents of a questionnaire were 12 question items: an age of objective dentists, the prevention and control of nosocomial infection in daily dental practice, and so on. The response data were collected and statistically analyzed using Spearman's ρ-test for the correlations among the responses for all question items. The major outcomes were as follows: 1. The response rate to the whole questionnaire was 24.2%. Followings were the alternatives with majority votes for the representative question items: Intelligibility of Universal (Standard) Precautions was "Unknowing"(43%), and wearing a cap and plastic apron was "Hardly wear"(62%). Thus, these data revealed that a number of dentists might not completely practice infection control when treating their patients. 2. As for hand washing, "Social hand washing and hygienic hand washing" were practiced by most of the respondents(61%), and in dental treatment for patients suffering from viral hepatitis, the most common response was "Performed"(95%). Thus, comparatively, most of the dentists seemed to understand the importance of infection control in daily dental practice. 3. However, the results of the correlation analyses demonstrated that younger dentists were negative toward wearing a cap and plastic apron, but were positive toward wearing and exchanging gloves, in case of practicing dental treatment for patients suffering from viral hepatitis. Furthermore, dentists with a clear perception about the importance of Universal(Standard)Precautions were generally positive toward wearing and exchanging gloves, and wearing a cap and plastic apron. These dentists were involved in treating patients with AIDS or tuberculosis, and were concerned about controlling aerosol and dust in the dental treatment environment. These results indicate that further enlightenment and training opportunities for dentists in the prevention and control of nosocomial infection, as shown in the FDI statement and CDC guidelines, might help improve the environment in general dental offices.
