Knowledge, Attitude & Practice Regarding Dental Unit Waterline (DUWL) System Disinfection among Dental Students & Practitioners: A Cross-Sectional Survey
Aashna Gill
*
Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Dental Sciences & Research, Amritsar, India.
Kanwalpreet Bhullar
Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Dental Sciences & Research, Amritsar, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Aims: This study aimed to determine knowledge, attitude and practice regarding Dental Unit Waterline (DUWL) System Disinfection among dental students and practitioners.
Study Design: Cross sectional study.
Methodology: This was an observational, qualitative, questionnaire based online survey. A questionnaire was administered online using Google Forms. Sample size was calculated as n = 180.
Results: Of the 180 dentists who received the questionnaire Postgraduate (0.34 ± 0.586) had higher mean knowledge score compared to undergraduate (0.18 ± 0.385), The difference was found to be significant statistically. However, there was no significant difference in mean attitude and practice scores between different groups.
Conclusion: The dental practitioners who responded to this survey generally did not disinfect or test their DUWLs.However, they were concerned with the well-being of the patient and were ready to adopt an effective method of DUWL disinfection.
Keywords: Dental unit waterlines, biofilms, disinfection, decontamination, dental students, dental practitioners, cross-sectional studies, infection control