Infection control in impression making procedures in the dental clinics

A B S T R A C T Aim: This study aims at investigating the behavior, orientation, attitude and knowledge of dental practitioners towards the infection control in the impression making procedure. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire consisting of 10 questions was designed to assess the details of impression material used and its disinfection. The questionnaire was sent to the dental practitioners of 70 clinics. Results: Out of 110 participants 91.81% sterilized their impression trays before making impressions. 94.54% Practitioners poured their impressions in their clinic.93.63% practitioners believed in rinsing the impressions before dispatching them to laboratory.52.27% practitioners disinfected their impressions prior to sending the impressions to the laboratory.79.09% participants were sure that their laboratory person is disinfecting the impressions before proceeding.71.81% practitioners believed that immersion of impressions in the disinfectant solution impairs the dimensional stability of impression material.89.09% believed that cross infection can lead to the life threatening diseases. 93.63% participants used Alginate as the primary impression material. 48.18% practitioners believed in disinfecting the impressions under tap water, 16.36% believed in disinfection using the spray and 9.09% disinfected by immersing impressions in the disinfectant. Only 20.90% participants used the autoclavable special impression material for at risk patients. Conclusion: Still there is lack of knowledge regarding disinfection of the impression and maintaining infection control during the impression making procedure. So an effort should be made to impart thorough knowledge about proper disinfection in the undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum.