DENTISTS’ LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CLEANING METHODS FOR REUSABLE INSTRUMENTS

Abstract

Decontamination of reusable medical devices is an important component of infection control in clinical settings. The aim: to assess the level of knowledge regarding the cleaning of the instruments among dentists from Iasi, Romania. Material and methods: The study included 52 general dental practitioners from Iasi, Romania. The subjects were chosen at random to complete a questionnaire about instrument cleaning methods in dental practice.Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 20.0. Results: The mean age was 35.75 ± 8.18 years. 65% of the subjects have a university degree.45% of the participants have a work experience of 0-5 years, 40% between 5-10 years and 15% over 10 years of practice. 50% of the respondents consider that the “instrument cleaning” stage is the most important. 40% chose as the answer option “all cleaning options” (manual, US cleaning, washing machine and combined) and the cleaning method frequently used is manual cleaning (60%);58% of respondents think that the most efficient cleaning method is manual cleaning combined with the US. Conclusions: The level of knowledge and attitudes regarding the instrument efficiency of instrument cleaning methods in dental practice is good, with participants with postgraduet education and professional experience between 0-5 years having a better knowledge than participants with university studies and professional experience over 5 years