Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of General Dentists towards Sterilization of Endodontic Files: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Root canal treatment is performed with the help of various endodontic instruments which were often reused. These instruments have to be cleaned, disinfected and sterilized effectively. The present study was done to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practice of the general dentists towards sterilization of endodontic files. Materials and Methods: Total 102 general dental practitioners including master's degree in various specialty of dentistry excluding endodontist were taken in the study. Specially prepared questionnaires consisting of 11 questions were used in the study. The results were tabulated and analyzed with the help of IBM SPSS statistics 20 using student's t test. Results: The general dental practitioners were having less knowledge, attitude and practice towards sterilization of the endodontic instruments as compared to that of the dental practitioners with master's degree and the difference was found to be statistically significant. (Student's t test). Conclusion: Many of the dental practitioners were not following the basic protocols of the sterilization. There is a need to increase the awareness of the sterilization of the endodontic instruments as it can be highly contagious.