ANALYSIS OF KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES ABOUT DENTAL IMPRESSIONS DISINFECTION IN PAKISTAN

Introduction: Infection control is an imperative issue in the dental practice. It is reported that 1 ml of saliva sample from the mouth of an average healthy person contains about 750 million microorganisms; therefore, it is one of the most discussed topics in dentistry and has become an integral part of the practice that dental health workers no longer question its necessity.

Objectives of the study: The main objective of the study is to find the knowledge and practices about dental impressions disinfection in Pakistan.

Material and methods: This study was conducted at Punjab dental hospital, Lahore during 2018 with the permission of ethical committee of hospital. There were 100 participants of both genders who participate in this study. Data collection: A validated self-administrated questionnaire was used as data collection tool. The questionnaire assessed the information on duration of experience of the participant in their field, education and any additional courses in their field, their knowledge about the impression procedures and disinfection of these materials. Results: The disinfection action of three mentioned disinfectants showed no significant difference after 5 minutes for Candida albicans and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, however, this difference was significant for Staphylococcus aureus. (P value <0.05). It was observed that Epimax is more efficient in eradicating Staphylococcus aureus compared to two others disinfectant agents.

Conclusion: It is concluded that that most of the dental technicians were not aware of the basic infection control protocols. A single set of standard precautions in accordance with the CDC and OSHA guidelines should be mandatory for all the dental laboratories. It is therefore essential that the foregoing outline of a workable laboratory infection control policy should be implemented.