A Survey of Sterilization-Methods for Infection-Control and Usage of Chemical-Disinfectants

Objectives:Applied infection control programs can eliminate the dangers posed by HBV, HIV, SARS, MRSA. The newly developed sterilization methods and chemical disinfectants are often used ineffectively in dental clinics. It is important to establish guidelines for effective sterilization and to adhere to them in order to minimize the rate of infections in dental clinics. Methods:This survey was conducted to investigate various sterilization methods and chemical disinfectants currently in use in dental clinics, and to formulate precise guidelines for dental office infection control from the data obtained.. Dental professionals who are employed in dental clinics and in dental departments of general hospitals were chosen as the participants of this survey. 48 metropolitan privately owned dental clinics and 33 dental departments were selected as sites for the survey. The data gathering period was from December 2002 -February 2003. The researcher explained the purpose of the survey to the participants and then collected the surveys immediately upon completion. SPSS statistical method was the technical analytical method used in processing data to obtain the frequency, percentage of the kinds, usage of chemical disinfectants and methods of sterilization as well, and X2 was used to seek the differentiation between the group of privately owned dental clinics and the dental departments of general hospitals. Results:The result of X2 of sterilization methods between privately owned dental clinics and dental departments of general hospitals showed the difference as p<0.0097 at the level of significance 0.01 statistically. The result of the analysis was that significant differences exist between the two groups and that the rate of chemical disinfectant use was shown to be higher in privately owned dental clinics than in the dental departments of general hospitals. Conclusions:Further continued study about chemical disinfectants is needed.