Evaluation of Awareness and Behavior of Dental Students of Mashhad Dental School on Infection Control

Dental clinic is an environment where infectious disease transmission occurs easily. Therefore prevention of cross infection in the dental clinic is a crucial aspect of dental practice. Infectious disease can pose significant problems in the dental office. The purpose of this study was evaluation of Mashhad Dental student's rate of awareness and behavior on infection control. In this cross-sectional analytical study, 149 dental students (3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th grade) from Mashhad dental school participated. The self-administered questionnaire was composed of 2 parts (awareness and behavior). Data were collected and analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney and 2 (Exact) to detect the differences among groups. There was a significant difference in use of eye protection, gown and shield among grades of students (P<0.001) but there was no significant difference in awareness about the use of mask and gloves among different grades (P>0.05). Results showed that student's awareness was poor on infection control. 27.5% of students showed poor behavior, 60.4% moderate and 12.1% showed good behavior on infection control. Mashhad Dental student's awareness towards infection control was poor and they showed different behaviors. A need for better education forward infection control is anticipated.