Iranian Dental Association Journal of Iranian Dental Association 3060-8201 17 2 2005 05 01 Assessment of vaccination against hepatitis B and infection control compliance among dentists participated in 42nd international congress of Iranian dentists 48 56 EN S.Moayyed Alavian Hossein Akbari Masoud Ahmadzad asl Majid Kazem Amir Davoodi Journal Article 2007 05 10 2013 02 25 Assessment of vaccination against hepatitis B and infection control compliance among dentists participated in 42nd international congress of Iranian dentists Dr. SM. Alavian* - Dr. H. Akbari ** - Dr. M. Ahmadzad asl*** - Dr. M. Kazem**** - A. Davoodi***** * - Associate Professor of Internal Medicine Dept. Faculty of Medicine, Baqyiatollah University of Medical Sciences. ** - Endodontist. *** - Medical Practitioner. **** - Resident of Endodontics Dept. Faculty of Dentistry – Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. ***** - Student of Dentistry. Background and Aim: Considering the potential role of dentists as both carriers and hosts of various infections, the goal of this study was to assess infection control compliance and particularly vaccination against hepatitis B among dentists. Materials and Methods: This pilot study was conducted in the annual congress of Iranian dentists in 2004 using an anonymous self – administered questionnaire. Response rate among congress participants was 31.75% (334 dentists). All participants were asked to answer voluntarily. Data were analyzed using SPSS 11.5 software, Fisher exact and Mann – Whitney U tests. Results: Mean age (±SE) and duration of practice in dental profession were 35.9±0.57 years and 106.9±6.4 months, respectively and 54.5% were males. Rate of routine use of gloves, facemasks and protective eye glasses were 93.1%, 87.1% and 63.8%, respectively. Female dentists showed higher protective behaviours as compared with males (P<0.05). Vaccination against HBV was reported in 94.9% of the studied subjects where as 1.5% of them had acquired immunity, however complete vaccination was done in 74.8% of dentist and only 47.9% of them were reported to be checked for HBs antibody after vaccination. There was a straight relation between vaccination against HBV and using protective methods (P<0.05). The most common reason for non – vaccination was lack of access to vaccine (58.1%). Conclusion: The rate of dentists' vaccination against HBV was at the range of other countries and almost all authors agree to encourage dentists to care more about cross – infection control. Key words: Infection control – Hepatitis B vaccination - Dentists