Compliance to Recommended Infection Control Measures at the Ministry of Health and Health Insurance Dental Clinic in Alexandria

Mansour, Khalid M.; Nour El-Din, Mostafa M.

doi:10.21608/jhiph.2003.192163

Compliance to Recommended Infection Control Measures at the Ministry of Health and Health Insurance Dental Clinic in Alexandria

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Dental Research Center, Ministry of Health and Population, Alexandria, Egypt

² Hospital Administration Division, Health Administration and Behavioral Science Department, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Egypt

10.21608/jhiph.2003.192163

Abstract

Infection control forms an important part of practice for all health care professionals and remains one of the most cost-beneficial medical interventions available. The aim of the present study was to investigate dentists' and nurses' compliance to recommended infection control [IC] practices and to investigate the appropriateness of sterilizing common dental instruments at the Ministry of Health [MOH] and Health Insurance Organization [HIO] dental clinics in Alexandria. The study was conducted at 3 MOH and 3 HIO dental clinics in Alexandria. Dentists' and nurses' infection control practices and sterilization methods were observed using observation checklists. Results of the present study showed variations in dentists' and nurses' compliance to the recommended infection control practices at both the MOH and HIO dental clinics in Alexandria. Perfect compliance was observed for a few recommendations including the single use of needles and local anaesthetic cartridges on each patient, whereas other recommendations were never followed such as flushing waterlines after each patient. Steam autoclaves were not used at any of the HI0 dental clinics and were infrequently used at MOH dental clinics. Recommendations for improving compliance to infection control measures at MOH and HIO dental clinics are presented.

Keywords