Occupational bloodborne exposure incident survey & management of exposure incidents in a dental teaching environment.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of occupational exposure incidents among undergraduate dental students and the factors associated with it in the educational dental clinics at Pharos University in Alexandria - Egypt, and to measure the commitment with applying infection control policy in the form of compliance with post-exposure management protocol and reporting exposure incidents.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: An anonymous self-administered questionnaire consisting of thirteen multiple-choice questions was distributed among 350 undergraduate dental students in mid-senior and senior levels during lectures at the end of the second semester of 2011, with a response rate of 90.00%.
RESULTS: About 62.00% of the senior students reported that exposures occurred outside the patient's mouth. A high percentage of both the mid-senior and senior students (74.70% and 70.70%, respectively) reported that they were exposed to multiple sources of incidents. The vast majority of studied groups stated that they didn't follow Infection Control Protocol after Incident Exposure.
CONCLUSION: The findings of this study confirm that dental students experience exposure incidents but are not likely to report them, thus it is important that the principles of infection control training and reporting of all exposure incidents continue to be emphasized throughout undergraduate dental education.