Prevalence of ocular injuries, conjunctivitis and use of eye protection among dental personnel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Aims: To find out the prevalence of ocular injury and infection among denta l personnel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Participants: Two hundred and four den tal personnel. Method: A questionnaire completed by researchers and observa tion during practice. Results: The response rate was 81%. Dentists and dent al technicians had a similar prevalence (42.3%) of foreign bodies in their eyes during the period of one month. Almost 50.5% of dentists rarely had fo reign bodies in their eyes, while only 22.2% of dental technicians claimed the same. The majority of dental surgery assistants (73.6%) never experienc ed foreign bodies in their eyes. Only 27.0% of female personnel had foreign bodies in their eyes as compared to 73.0% of male personnel, while only 28 .5% of females had conjunctivitis as compared to 71.4% among male personnel . 75% of regular eye protector wearers (EPW) never had foreign bodies while 67.2% EPW never had conjunctivitis. Dental technicians were more prone to ocular injury, 13.8% as compared to 4.4% of dentists. Only 30% of the regul ar eye protector wearers suffered ocular injury. Conclusions: Protection of the eyes should be emphasised and practised at undergraduate level. The aw areness of eye protection should be highlighted at all clinical and researc h symposia. Further studies should be conducted to assess the financial imp lications of ocular injuries and infections in dental institutions and prac tices. Recommendations are made for universal precautions and the observati on of safety at work guidelines by all dental team members.