{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.032944406314344546, 'fraction_numerical': 0.016472203157172273, 'mean_word_length': 5.257510729613734, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Knowledge, attitude, and practice of dentists toward patients with human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis B virus infections in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India

Background: During routine dental work, dentists and dental students can be exposed to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV). The aim of the present study was to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of the dentists toward HIV- and HBV-infected patients in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among dentists practicing in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India, from December 2016 to April 2017. A total of 200 practitioners (89 males and 111 females) participated in the study. A pretested validated questionnaire related to the knowledge, attitude, and practices (knowledge – 17, attitude – 13, and practice – 17) of the dentists toward HIV- and HBV-infected patients was distributed among dental practitioners. Results: Almost 80% of the dental practitioners had existing fear and concern of the infection transmission from HIV and HBV patients, and this was the primary cause of refusal to treat these infected patients. Conclusion: The dentists did not have proper knowledge in the field of transmission of HIV and HBV infections. Fear and concern of being infected make them to refuse treating these patients. Therefore, training dentists to improve their attitudes toward the treatment of these patients is necessary.