Environmental sustainability: dental waste management in the public service

Abstract

Introduction: Waste Health Service (RSS) are a serious problem for society and the environment, and the knowledge of their correct management is essential for the training of health professionals. Objetive: The objective of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of active dental professionals in the Basic Health Units of municipalities in the northwest of São Paulo, Brazil, on the proper handling of RSS. Methods: The data collection instrument was a semi-structured questionnaire, completed during visits in health facilities in order to check the conformity of Dental waste management process. A descriptive analysis and the values were expressed in table form. Also, we applied the chi-square test and Fisher's exact to determine association between waste disposal of knowledge and information on the topic at a significance level of 1%. Analyses were performed in BioEstat 5.0. Results: Of the total (n=74) of the professionals, the majority (97.3%) claims to know what are RSS and all believe they can make health evil. However, 41.9% did not answer correctly disposing sucking and infected gloves and 20.3% on the disposal of sharps. With regard to information on the subject, 40.5% did not obtain. Conclusions: It is concluded that the knowledge on proper disposal of RSS by these professionals is still flawed. This reflects the importance of training professionals and proposes ways of appropriate management of RSS.

Keywords

• administración de residuos
• legislación sanitaria
• residuos dentales
• brasil.