Introducing safety syringes into a UK dental school - a controlled study

Aim How an appropriate safety syringe was chosen, how the change-over to it was achieved and what outcome measures were used to measure the effectiven ess of this change. Introduction One third of all reported sharps injuries in dental practice a re due to the use of non disposable dental syringes with most injuries bein g sustained during removal and disposal of the disposable needle from the n on-disposable syringe. Method After evaluation of all available disposable safety syringes they we re introduced into a dental school after appropriate education of all staff and students. Risk management provided data on all reported needle-stick i njuries in the dental school and a control unit using non disposable syring es for a period of two years. Results Avoidable needle stick injuries reduced from an average of 11.8 to 0 injuries per 1,000,000 hours worked per year as compared to a control uni t who reduced their frequency from 26 to 20 injuries per 1,000,000 hours wo rked. The cost of safety syringes is comparable to non-disposable syringes but the reduction in cost of management of needle stick injuries including the psychological effects are significant. Conclusion Education plays a vitally important role in the effective implem entation of the change to safety syringes which is advocated for all dentis ts.