Occupational Exposures Occurring in Students in Kuwait Dental School

Objectives: Dental students during their clinical training period may encounter a number of incidents where infection from patient body fluids may occur, especially as their manual skills are underdeveloped and their clinical experience is limited. Hence the purpose of this study was to assess the nature of the occupational exposures occurring among students in Kuwait dental school, to assess the rate of reporting of incidents, and to evaluate the association of various factors with these exposures. Methods: Students in the fifth (n=25), sixth (n=26) and final years (n=14) of the 6.5 year undergraduate dental course were asked personally to provide information regarding the nature and incidence of any occupational exposures they had experienced. These students were chosen as the majority of their clinical experience occurs in these years. Results: The total numbers of reported exposures since starting the dental course for each year were: 9 (Y5, 36%), 10 (Y6, 38.5%) and 4 (28.5%) in final year. All the students (100%) across the years reported the incidents to the infection control officer. A greater percentage of occupational exposures (90%) occurred during local anaesthesia procedures and percutaneous injuries predominated. All students had completed their HBV vaccination series. However, many students had not been post-screened for seroconversion Conclusions: To reduce the incidence of these exposures more education and induction programme may be required in earlier clinical years. Improvements are required in the monitoring of post-screening for seroconversion after HBV immunisation.