Knowledge and Awareness towards Occupational Hazards and Preventive Measures among Students and Dentists in Jazan Dental College, Saudi Arabia.

AIM: The present study was aimed to assess the level of awareness and occupational hazards of dental students and professionals who are working at dental college and hospital, Jazan University, Saudi Arabia.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data has been collected through a self-administrated questionnaire with closed questions. The questionnaire consisted of questions on personal information like age, gender, years of experience and awareness of occupational hazards, seminar attendance, safety measures practised, and experience of occupational hazard while in practice. Participants were asked to answer each questionnaire item as "yes" or "no". The data were analysed with SPSS-Version and P-value was generated.

RESULTS: Out of the 200 participants, 38.5% were females, and 62% were males. Differences were found significantly high between male and female subjects regarding neck shoulder pain, hand wrist pain, backache, and anxiety and routine use of a surgical cap (P < 0.05). Over 33% of the participants had attended workshops or conferences about the occupational hazards. 12.85% participants reported latex allergy and 74% of the participants vaccinated against Hepatitis B. Significant differences were found in the attitude of general dentists towards the preventive measures against the occupational hazards based on years of experience.

CONCLUSION: The findings of this study are consistent with the previous studies. Specific psychological concerns related to the conditions and the environment of the practice at dental college and hospital, Jazan University were expressed because the majority of participants were students.