title: Microbial contamination of the white coats of dental staff in the clinical setting.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although wearing a white coat is an accepted part of medical and dental practice, it is a potential source of cross-infection. The objective of this study was to determine the level and type of microbial contamination present on the white coats of dental interns, graduate students and faculty in a dental clinic.
  
  
  METHODS
  Questionnaire and cross-sectional survey of the bacterial contamination of white coats in two predetermined areas (chest and pocket) on the white coats were done in a rural dental care center. Paired sample t-test and chi-square test were used for Statistical analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  60.8% of the participants reported washing their white coats once a week. Grading by the examiner revealed 15.7% dirty white coats. Also, 82.5% of the interns showed bacterial contamination of their white coats compared to 74.7% graduate students and 75% faculty members irrespective of the area examined. However, chest area was consistently a more bacterio-logically contaminated site as compared to the pocket area. Antibiotic sensitivity testing revealed resistant varieties of micro-organisms against Amoxicillin (60%), Erythromycin (42.5%) and Cotrimoxazole (35.2%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The white coats seem to be a potential source of cross-infection in the dental setting. The bacterial contamina-tion carried by white coats, as demonstrated in this study, supports the ban on white coats from non-clinical areas.
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Community Dentistry, Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Mangalore, India.
authors.forename: Harsh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Priya
authors.forename: Shashidhar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Acharya
authors.forename: Meghashyam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bhat
authors.forename: Mamtha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ballal