Evaluation of Infection Control in Dental Offices in Hamadan in 2010

Statement of the Problem: The incidence of infectious diseases is considerably high among dentists and the team of dental care providers because of frequent exposure to blood and saliva. Therefore, infection control regulations must be taken seriously in order to prevent crosscontamination. Purpose: The aim of the present study was to investigate infection control measures in dental offices in Hamadan, Iran in 2010. Materials and methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 77 general and 54 specialized dental offices provided information in terms of the level of infection control measures. The information was obtained via observation and questionnaire. The questionnaire was compiled in eight sections, including the environmental safety and building characteristics, the dental unit, the accessories, instruments, materials, environmental protection, personal protection and infection control behaviors and disposing the wastes. Data were analyzed using chi-squared, Mann-Whitney U and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests and comparisons were made between the general and specialized dental offices. Results: Infection control statuses in the general and specialized dental offices in relation to the dental unit were 23.09% and 76.22%; in relation to instruments they were 67.34% and 95.57%; and in relation to personal protection they were 58.50% and 64.42%, respectively. Infection control measures revealed significant differences between the general and specialized offices in relation to all the aspects except the personal protection measures (P<0.05). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that specialized offices were more successful in implementing infection control measures; however, there is room for improvement and further education and supervision is required to reach the optimum level of standards.