Awareness and Knowledge of Undergraduate Dental Students about Sterilization/Disinfection Methods of Extracted Human Teeth

BACKGROUND: Dental undergraduate students work on extracted human teeth in preclinical practical's to learn technical skills before entering the clinics and delivering dental care to the patients. AIM: The aim of the present investigation was to assess the awareness and knowledge toward sterilization/disinfection methods of extracted human teeth in a selected group of Indian dental students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, the participants consisted of 2(nd)-, 3(rd)-, 4(th)-, and 5(th)-year dental students. Data were collected by questionnaires and analyzed by Mann–Whitney U-test and Kruskal–Wallis test using SPSS software version 16 for Windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). RESULTS: In this study, 235 dental students participated in the study. The average awareness and knowledge score was 7.27 (1.92). Based on the opinion of 57% (134/235) students, hydrogen peroxide was selected as the suitable material for sterilization and 24.6% (58/235) students believed that autoclave sterilization is a good way for the purpose. CONCLUSION: The results of this investigation indicated that awareness and knowledge of undergraduate dental students in relation to sterilization/disinfection methods of extracted human teeth were good. However, deficiencies were observed in relation to teaching the material and methods suitable for sterilization.