Incidence of Needlestick Injuries in Oral Surgery Clinic among Dental Students: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Introduction: Practitioners in the dental field carry an occupational risk of injuries when performing routine procedures and hence the possible contraction of serious infections. Dental college students are considered at a higher risk because they start performing such procedures with no or very little experience. Although needlestick injuries (NSIs) are preventable, they are still a common happening and the main concern is the risk of transfer of more than 20 pathogens. The most serious are hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).