Infection control practices among dental practitioners of Lahore, Pakistan

ABSTRACT

To observe adoption of infection control measures among dental practitioners. A cross-sectional study based on a convenient sampling technique was conducted. Dental Practitioners in each subdivision [towns] of the Lahore, Pakistan were approached through 15 dental hygiene students to fill a close ended structured questionnaire. Study was conducted during 1[st] March-15 March 2005. Chi square test was applied with a significance level of p<0.05. Four hundred dental practices were visited and response rate of 83.25% was obtained. 62.76% surgeries were found being run by un-qualified dental practitioners and 37.23% by qualified dentists. 94.35% qualified practitioners used gloves as compared to only 28.2% of the un-qualified practitioners and a high percentage of qualified practitioners used gloves for every patients compared to their un-qualified counter parts [85.48% and 14.35%] respectively. 97.5% qualified practitioners and 80.3% of the un-qualified dentists used face masks. 85.1% of un-qualified and 98.3% of the qualified dental practitioners used fresh set of instruments for each patient. Use of sterilization methods including disinfectants, autoclaving of instruments was higher in qualified practitioners. Infection control measures among qualified and non-qualified practitioners were statistically significant. [p= 0.000] A poor level of infection control practice was observed in dental practices run by un-qualified practitioners. Majority of qualified dentists were observing infection control measures. There is need for further education and training for all the dental practitioners