Dental Hygiene Student and Faculty Perspectives on Disposable vs. Traditional Local Anesthetic Syringes: A pilot study.

Abstract

Purpose The popularity of disposable safety syringes has grown because of their established safety record. Previous studies on local anesthetic syringes have mainly concentrated on safety features and the prevention of needlestick injuries, often neglecting the preferences of practitioners. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the preferences of dental hygiene students and faculty for traditional metal syringes compared to disposable safety syringes.Methods An 11-item questionnaire was distributed to a convenience sample of 61 dental hygiene students and 3 faculty members in a pain management course. The questionnaires were administered after the participants' first exposure to local anesthetic administration on a mannequin and after their final exposure on a live patient to assess any changes in preferences. The post-questionnaire included the same 11 questions, along with an open-ended question inviting participants to share their final thoughts. Data were collected and entered into an Excel spreadsheet for descriptive statistics and inductive content analysisResults The response rate was 93.44% (n=57) for the initial questionnaire and 90.16% (n=55) for the final questionnaire administered to the dental hygiene students. All of the faculty members (n=3) completed both questionnaires. Participants preferred the traditional syringe over the disposable safety syringe for ease of use/comfort and control of the apparatus during set up, aspiration, and injection. However, preferences for disposable safety syringes were indicated in the responses related to syringe break down and clean-up.Conclusion This study assessed the preferences of dental hygiene students and faculty for traditional metal versus disposable safety syringes, revealing a clear preference for the former despite some limitations. Understanding how syringe design affects user comfort and safety could enhance disposable syringe technology and its adoption.