RGO: Revista Gaúcha de Odontologia (Jan 2008)
Legal aspects of insalubrity in dentistry
Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the knowledge of dentists with regard to insalubrity in the profession, ways of prevention and legal aspects.Methods: Research was conducted in the form of questionnaires, with 15 objective questions, distributed among 225 dentists that work inthe region of Contagem, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The data collected were submitted to analysis of distribution in conjunction with frequency,determining the significance of the effects by the Chi-square test (X2) and the Exact Fisher test, when necessary, establishing a level of confidence of 95%. Results: The results obtained demonstrated that the professionals did not know some of the rules of the National Sanitary Vigilance Agency with regard to prevention against chemical and physical agents in the consulting room. The time since graduation did not influence the dentists as regards a greater awareness about having audiometric exams performed to prevent occupational noise. A high index of professionals who protected themselves against the HBV virus by immunization (97, 94%) was obtained, however, there was statistically significant difference with regard to non-use of cap and apron by men (p=0.001 and p=0.03 respectively). Conclusion: The vast existent literature reveals that the professional has theoretical knowledge, but this is not in accordance with his/her actions in daily clinical practice.
