Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice on Mercury Disposal by Preclinical and Clinical Students of a Dental College in Puducherry – A Questionnaire Survey

Abstract

Background: Mercury-containing waste cannot be disposed of with other biomedical waste and has to be handled carefully. It is essential that students understand the proper guidelines regarding the same. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practices of handling mercury and mercury-containing waste among dental students. Methodology: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among 237 preclinical and clinical students of a private dental college in Puducherry UT, India. A closed-ended, self-administered questionnaire consisting of 30 items was designed to elicit responses from study participants. The questionnaire had separate items to assess their knowledge, attitude, and practice. Results: Study participants provided wrong answers (<50% right responses) for a majority of items related to mercury/dental amalgam. A higher proportion of clinical students provided right answers for items relating to allergic response of mercury (P = 0.05), labeling containers with biohazard symbol (P = 0.05), handling characteristics (avoiding skin contact with freshly mixed amalgam) (P = 0.03), the storage of contact and noncontact amalgam (P = 0.03), and in following the protocol (P = 0.04). Conclusions: Overall, clinical students provided more right answers than nonclinical students. However, a statistically significant difference between the two groups of students was limited to only five items. Appropriate handling, manipulation, and disposal of mercury can be practiced only when there is adequate knowledge, awareness, and practice that was found to be lacking for 12 items and no significant differences for the remaining 13 items.