Occupational Hazards in Dentistry – An Assessment of Awareness Among Dental Undergraduate Students

Background: Health profession has been declared among the top 15 professions exposed to a high risk of occupational hazards by US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Threats may range from anxiety and allergy to life-threatening illnesses like hepatitis. Objective: To evaluate the knowledge of undergraduate dental students about occlusal hazards (OH) in dentistry. Study type, settings and duration: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Armed Forces Institute of Dentistry (AFID), Rawalpindi and Islamic International Dental College (IIDC), Islamabad over a period of three months from October 2018 to December 2018. Methodology: A questionnaire based survey was conducted to assess the awareness of 156 undergraduate dental students concerning Occupational Hazards in dentistry. Only students who routinely came in contact with patients were included. Questions were asked about concept of Occupational hazards, protocols for cross-infection prevention, ergonomics, material handling and psychosocial issues. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 24. Results: All respondents were well-aware about Occupational Hazards in dentistry. Majority (96%) were immunized for hepatitis B. Students (78%) revealed poor knowledge about ergonomics and material handling. Most of them (89%) used mercury in routine but less than 40% knew about the management of spilled mercury. Most of the students (54%) felt stressed owing to peer pressure and competition. Conclusion: Undergraduate trainees at AFID and IIDC are familiar with Occupational Hazards in their profession. Dedicated efforts are required to improve the training of subjects in the areas of ergonomics and material handling.