Evaluation of the occurrence of occupational hazards and accidents among dental school students

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the occurrence of occupational discomforts, disease and accidents among the senior-year students at the School ofDentistry ofUNESP and UNIP in Araçatuba, SP. For this, sixty students from UNESP and forty-one students from UNIP answered a questionnaire. The results showed that most of the students (UNESP - 91,7%; UNIP- 75,6%) feel or have felt pain related to Dentistry, with great frequency of backache, pain in the neck and hands, due to incorrect posture, repetitive works and sedentary life. The practice of physical exercises to help the prevention of some discomforts has been reported by 66,7% of students from UNESP an d by 53,7% from UNIP. In relation to occupational accidents, 45,0% of the students from UNESP and 17,1% from UNIP reported its occurrence, being that most of them were due to instrument cutting edges and during the attendance. The most commonpost accident attitude was washing and antisepsis of the wound, however none of them made reference about serologytest for contagious disease or an ti- retroviral therapy. It may be concluded the need of con s- ciousness among Dental School students for the adoption of preventive measures, regarding occupational diseases, also suggesting a need for the creation of a Bio-security and Infection Control Protocol in both Univer- . sities, which would facilitate the instruction and the conduct of the students before occupational haza:ds.