Dental Students and Bloodborne Pathogens: Occupational Exposures, Knowledge, and Attitudes

Abstract

Dental professionals may be exposed to bloodborne pathogens in their work, and dental students may be a particularly vulnerable group. Fear of exposure has also been linked to discriminatory practices. A cross-sectional survey of dental students was conducted at one U.S. dental school to assess their knowledge about the transmission of bloodborne pathogens and management of exposures; the frequency of their bloodborne pathogen exposures (BBPEs); and associations among their prior exposure, knowledge, perception of knowledge, and attitudes toward practice. Overall, 220 students (72.1 percent) responded to the survey, and 215 (70.5 percent) answered questions about exposures. The prevalence of BBPE was 19.1 percent and was greater among clinical than preclinical students (p<0.01). Percutaneous injuries occurred in 87.5 percent of those exposed. All students (preclinical and clinical combined) answered more survey questions correctly about transmission of bloodborne pathogens (66.7 percent) than about post-exposure management (25.0 percent). Fewer than half reported adequate knowledge of transmission and management (47.5 percent and 37.3 percent, respectively). In this context, 8.2 percent of the respondents acknowledged an unwillingness to perform procedures on patients with HIV. Since knowledge gaps may lead to failure to report incidents and delays in appropriate exposure management and some negative attitudes towards treating individuals with HIV persist, these indings justify improving BBPE education at U.S. dental schools.

Knowledge about syphilis and its oral manifestations among dental students: a cross-sectional study from Brazil, 2019

“…Unlike this research, studies that investigated the knowledge of dental students about HIV / AIDS [25][26][27] and occupational of blood-borne pathogens [28,29] showed that knowledge about some aspects was greater among students with higher educational level. Keser et al [25] justi ed this nding by the fact that the older group may have gained more experience over the years and was exposed to larger number of patients compared to the younger group.…”

“…A fact that attracted attention was that studies on knowledge about the transmission of blood-borne pathogens among dental students conducted by Myers et al [28] and Brailo et al [29], published in 2012 and 2011, respectively, did not address syphilis. The study by Wu et al [15], published in 2016, included the disease, probably due to its increasing prevalence worldwide.…”

Reporting of occupational exposures to blood and body fluids in the primary dental care setting in Scotland: an evaluation of current practice and attitudes

“…16,17 Evidence to date suggests that the greater proportion of sharps injuries occur as a result of inappropriate handling and disposal of instruments. 6,18,19 In addition, few studies have explored the attitudes and beliefs of primary dental care practitioners towards reporting occupational exposures in primary dental care. Given this combination of factors the aim of the study was to evaluate dentists' current reporting behaviour as well as their beliefs about reporting occupational exposures to blood and other oral fluids in Scottish dental practices.…”

Observed infection control compliance in a dental school: A natural experiment

“…Infection control recommendations for dentistry were first published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 1986, 1 last updated in 2003, 2 and have been widely disseminated to practicing dentists, dental educators, and state Boards of Dental Examiners. 3 Compliance with infection control protocols in dental practice has been variable at best, both in the United States 3,4 and in developing countries. 5 Compliance in a school environment has also been less than ideal, 6 and 1 study suggested a decrease over time for some parameters.…”