Screening of Nasal Carriers of Staphylococcus aureus in Dental Clinics

Aim : The aim of the study is to screen the nasal carriers for S. aureus in dental clinics. Objective: The nasal carriers can pave way for infections in the surgical sites like extraction site etc. in dental clinics. This may spread due to sneezing or coughing. Nasal swabs are taken from the dentists and they are cultured using blood agar to check the presence of S. aureus. Background: Staphylococcus aureus is the most important pathogen in the development of surgical site infections. Dentists who carry S. aureus in the nose are at increased risk for the development of Surgical site infections in patients. So, screening is done for dentists to check the prevalence of nasal carriers of S. aureus. Reason : Post operative complications are high nowadays. So, a dentist must not be a source of infection. S. aureus have multi drug resistance and these infections may lead to delay in healing or even failure of the treatment.