Assessment of the Knowledge of Infectious Diseases and Their mode of Transmission Among Dental Health Care Personnel in a Tertiary Health Institution in Southern Nigeria

Background: Dental Health Care Personnel (DHCP) and clinical students in training are constantly exposed to saliva and oral fluids in the course of carrying out oral health care procedures. For optimum observance of infection control protocols, there is a need for adequate and appropriate knowledge of infectious agents and their mode of transmission in order to prevent cross infection in a dental clinic setting. Objective: To determine the level of knowledge of infectious agents transmissible in a dental clinic among dental health care personnel and final year clinical students and nurses in a tertiary health facility. Methods: This paper is a cross-sectional descriptive study which used a well-structured self-administered questionnaire. A convenient sampling technique was applied and a total of 111 DHCP and final year clinical students and nurses were recruited into the study. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS) version 16 (IBM, Chicago, IL, USA).  Bivariate analysis showed that the dentist cadre had the best level of knowledge of infectious agents transmissible in dental clinics. This, however, was not statistically significant p=0.298 Results: A total of one hundred and eleven respondents, ages ranging from 15 to 55 years and with a mean age of 31.0±5.5 participated in this study. More than two-third 75(67.6%) of the respondents were dental surgeons and the least 2(1.8%) were the dental hygienist. More males 63(56.8%) participated in the study and most respondents 107(96.4%) were Christians. Fifty-five (49%) had good knowledge, 9(8.1%) had fair knowledge, and 47(42.3%) had poor knowledge of infectious diseases/conditions transmissible in dentistry. Respondents’ status was not a determinant of the level of knowledge, p=0.298. Conclusion: The average knowledge of the DHCP, final year clinical students and dental student nurses in this study was good, but their knowledge about HDV and infectious bacteria in dental unit water was poor.