Assessment of occupational hazards among dentists practicing in Mumbai

AIM: To assess the awareness of various occupational hazards experienced and the preventive measures undertaken by the dentists in and around Mumbai. METHODS: The present study was conducted using self-administered questionnaire, which was circulated to 200 dentists practicing in and around Mumbai. The questionnaire also included questions on personal information like age, gender, position (student or faculty), years of experience, and number of working hours per day. Those who completed the questionnaire form completely and willing to participate were only included in the study. The results were analyzed using SPSS version 22.0. RESULTS: 23.5% of the participants had the dental working experience more than 10 years and 28.5% dentists worked for ≥8 h. 69% were general practitioners and 40% of the participants treat nearly 10 to 20 patients per day. 45% of them experienced needle stick injury in clinical practice. 1.5% of dentists in our study admitted receiving some litigation from their patients. CONCLUSION: The present study indicated that occupational hazards, awareness about biological hazards, and preventive measures observed by dentists in Mumbai are generally consistent with published guidelines for infection control and also in accordance with the previous research. The majority of the dental practitioners were suffering from pain in the muscles of neck or back. Regular training and workshops can help lower such problems.