Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Survey for Group of Egyptian Dentists About Infection Control in Different Pediatric Dental Clinics: A Cross-Sectional Study

Patient's safety is considered a very important medical protocol which aims at improving quality of patient's care, minimizing treatment mistakes and improving safety to the maximum extent that can be reached. On this approach infection is one of the most critical issues in healthcare service worldwide, where it can be transmitted during dental procedures through direct and indirect contact , in addition to high risk blood borne infections , and nowadays we are facing global emergence and re-emergence of many communicable diseases that can also be transmitted during dental practice.

As a result of the high risk of transmission of the above infections, high standard precautions must be implemented for all patients attending dental clinics regardless of their infection status , because those patients could be in the prodromal phase or carriers without even knowing. In addition, some infectious diseases have prolonged incubation periods during which antibodies can't be detected , So in order to avoid infection transmission hazards and to achieve patient's safety, infection prevention and control of cross-contamination are our goal in providing a secure environment for patients and healthcare workers within healthcare settings in general and more specifically in dental practices.

Transmission of infectious agents among patients and dental health care personnel (DHCP) in dental settings is rare. However, transmissions in dental settings, including patient-to-patient transmissions, have been documented. In most cases, investigators failed to link a specific lapse of infection prevention and control with a particular transmission. However, reported breakdowns in basic infection prevention procedures included unsafe injection practices, failure to heat sterilize dental handpieces between patients, and failure to monitor autoclaves by conducting spore tests.

Generally, Concerns have increased considerably by a report about the transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from an American dentist to five of his patients. With the presence of people infected with hepatitis B and C and the HIV viruses, cross infection has become a major concern for dentists, dental personnel and patients. On the other hand, developing countries including Egypt showed the increased prevalence of transmission of infection among dental clinics.

Therefore, Universal precautions should be followed considering all patients as infectious. However, Most hospitals have no infection control programs due to the lack of awareness of the problem or absence of properly trained personnel. This highlight the need for training to improve understanding of principles, practices, and implementation, in addition to the conditions that cause disease transmission, So all dental settings, regardless of the level of care provided, must make infection prevention a priority and should be equipped to observe Standard Precautions and other infection prevention recommendations contained in CDC's Guidelines for Infection Control in Dental Health-Care Settings - 2003.