Effects of Infection Control Training on Dental Hygienists’ Health Beliefs and Practices of Infection Control

Abstract

This study aims to determine the changes in health beliefs and practices of dental hygienists on infection control after having received special training on that subject. The study population consisted of dental hygienists working at the dental institutions located in Seoul and Gyeonggi areas. The intervention group and the control group each had randomly assigned 26 dental hygienists. The intervention group received training courses on infection control once a week for 3 hours, for a total of 4 training sessions. We used a survey tool to find the changes between the two groups regarding their health beliefs and practices on infection control measures. The survey was conducted prior to the training sessions, 3 months and 2 weeks after the training. The study results revealed statistically significant increases in perceived sensitivity, perceived seriousness, and perceived benefits after the training courses in the intervention group (p＜0.05). A statistically significant decrease in perceived barriers was also noted in the intervention group (p＜0.05). Additionally, there was a statistically significant increase in the practice of infection control in the intervention group as compared to the control group (p＜0.05). Therefore, we conclude that infection control training is crucial in bringing about positive changes to the health beliefs of dental hygienists, and a structured system is necessary for continuous infection management along with training in order to improve infection control practices.

Observance of Sterilization Protocol Guideline Procedures of Critical Instruments for Preventing Iatrogenic Transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in Dental Practice in France, 2017

“…Long-term regular training sessions could be useful, particularly in the case of deficient knowledge and/or awareness or motivation. Better adherence levels to sterilization procedures were consistently found when practices underwent continuous education [ 45 , 46 ], notably on prion contamination risk [ 47 ]. More generally, regular assessments of the quality of implementation of the different sterilization procedures are highly desirable at the national or regional level to monitor these public health issues on a regular basis.…”

Prevention of viral infection transmission in dental practice

“…Mnoge studije potvrđuju da kontinuirano obrazovanje o postupcima sterilizacije daje bolje rezultate u pogledu efikasnosti same sterilizacije, a sve to sa ciljem sprečavanja prenošenja infekcija u stomatološkim ordinacijama [30][31][32].…”