Dental Student Hand Hygiene Decreased With Increased Clinical Experience

To investigate the effectiveness, related knowledge, attitudes, and practices of hand hygiene (HH) among dental students with different levels of clinical experience.

This was a cross-sectional analytical study. Bacterial samples on the participants' hands were obtained using a swab technique before and after handwashing, for oral surgical procedures. After culturing, the colony-forming units were counted. Self-reported questionnaires reflecting the knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to HH were completed by the participants.

This study was performed in a primary oral health care institution, Faculty of Dentistry, Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok, Thailand). Bacterial samples and self-reported questionnaires were collected in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Bacterial culture was performed in the Department of Microbiology.

The 120 participants comprised first, second, third-year clinical training students (CTs), and postgraduate dental students (PGs) (32, 34, 30, and 24 participants, respectively).

More than 99% of the bacteria were eliminated from the participants' hands after handwashing. Significantly higher numbers of bacteria were recovered from the hands of the PGs compared with those of the CTs, and the hands of the third-year CTs compared with those of the first-year CTs (p < 0.001), after HH. The first-year CTs had the highest attitude scores, whereas the PGs had the lowest practice scores. The knowledge scores were similar in all groups.

HH effectiveness, attitudes, and practices of dental students decreased as students gained more clinical experience, whereas knowledge did not. Our results suggest that HH instruction should be given throughout the duration of dental students' education.