Evaluation of the Awareness of Sterilization and Disinfection Among Dentistry Faculty Students

In recent years, the increase in diseases transmitted through blood and other body fluids has raised awareness about the implementation of sterilization and disinfection in the field of dentistry. The aim of this study is to examine the current practices and sensitivities of dental students regarding infection control, sterilization, and disinfection in the Oral, Dental, and Maxillofacial Surgery Clinic. The participating students were asked to answer a questionnaire consisting of 20 multiple-choice questions related to sterilization and disinfection. Questions prepared in the form of a Likert scale were classified with a 5-point scale and scored as "strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), undecided (3), agree (4), strongly agree (5). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods, Shapiro-Wilk, Mann Whitney U and chi-square test. The study group consisted of a total of 150 students, with 71 (47.3%) being 4th and 79 (52.7%) being 5th grade students. The average age of the group was found to be 23.28 ± 1.12 years. When comparing the importance of handwashing when working with gloves and the disinfection of rotary instruments for infection control between 4th and 5th grade dentistry students, the results were significantly in favor of the 5th grade dentistry students (p<0.05). The average scores of the responses regarding sterilization and disinfection were 73.91 for the 4th-grade students and 76.93 for the 5th-grade students. When the scores were compared between the two grades, no statistically significant difference was found (p>0.05). It has been revealed that dentistry students need to be careful regarding sterilization and disinfection.