Assessment of awareness about various dental waste management practices among dental students and practicing clinicians
Objective: To evaluate the knowledge of students and dental practitioners about dental and biomedical waste disposal and to impart emphasis on important aspects such as eco friendly waste management. Material and Methods: This questionnaire based study involved 186 participants which comprised of 5 domains, namely laws regarding biomedical waste, steps of waste management, categories of dental waste, general hazards of improper waste disposal and certain material/process specific questions. Results: Assessment of the first domain showed that only 58.4% of participants were able to correctly identify the Pollution Control Board of India as the regulatory body for the transport of medical waste. The second domain assessment revealed that 55.9% of subjects were adequately aware of the knowledge handling hospital waste. Assessment of the third domain displayed that the majority of the respondents (91.9% knew categories of dental waste generated. Evaluation of fourth domain exhibited that 89.8% students agreed that biomedical waste management (BWM) must be made a practical exercise in dental schools to reduce "Know Do gap" between undergraduates and postgraduates and the last domain demonstrated that only 32.3% of the participants knew the environmentally friendly technique to convert organic waste into commercially useful byproducts. Conclusion: It was found that postgraduates had a better awareness of the proper methods to dispose of healthcare waste when compared to students and interns. However, the overall level of awareness was less than adequate. The need for special training in BWM in the clinical set up was highlighted through this study.