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KMID : 1143520190070010008
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Journal of Korean Society of Oral Health Science
2019 Volume.7 No. 1 p.8 ~ p.17
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Study on the Level of Awareness of and Practice of Infection Prevention by Dental Hygienists in Dental Clinics
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Kim Young-Sook
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Abstract
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Dental hygienists are consistently confronted with the risks of being exposed to pathogenic microorganisms since they are in charge of direct dental infection management in dental clinics. As such, this study is aimed at providing the basic data necessary for the establishment of policies and means for the future improvement of infection prevention in dental clinics. To this end, a surveys was carried out on the level of awareness and practice of infection prevention by dental hygienists, who are the principal agents of infection prevention. The survey was conducted on 400 dental hygienists majoring in dental hygiene under the academic credit management system of a life-long education center and in-depth major courses in Seoul and Incheon Metropolitan Cities, and the Gyeonggi-do region from September 12 to December 11, 2018. Statistical tools including frequency analysis, t-test, and chi square analysis (x2-test) were utilized for the analysis of survey outcomes. Almost all dental hygienists had received education on dental infection prevention(243 subjects, 71.7%). Two of the subjects had had the experience of being infected with tuberculosis(0.6%) and Type A hepatitis(0.6%) while 7 other subjects had experienced being infected with Type B hepatitis(2.1%). Type B hepatitis(95.2%) was the infectious disease considered to have the highest risk of manifestation within the dental clinic. Subjects who are younger have undergone vaccinations to a greater extent than those who are older. This difference was found to be statistically significant(p<0.001). The most frequent reasons for not having undergone vaccination included high cost(88.1%) and lack of time(86.6%), followed by lack of interest(83.7%), and lack of acknowledgement of the need for vaccination(66.7%), thereby illustrating that there is a need to pursue more assertive promotion of infection management. The level of use of protective devices by dental hygienists was the highest for masks(77.7%) and gloves(77.7%). On the question of reasons for not wearing protective devices, the largest number of subjects gave the answer of inconvenience in wearing at 49.8%, followed by lack of time (17.4%), and then others (18.1%), thereby displaying statistically significant differences (p<0.001). In order to increase the efficiency of dental infection management, it is necessary to establish guidelines for infection prevention to ensure the continuous implementation of a monitoring system. Moreover, there are needs to fortify the support for facilities and equipment in hospitals, and to establish assertive promotional and educational programs on the standards for infection prevention in dental treatments.
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KEYWORD
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Infection Control, Infection Control practice, Dental hygienist
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