title: Knowledge, attitudes, and performance of dental students in relation to sterilization/disinfection methods of extracted human teeth.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dental students use extracted human teeth to learn practical and technical skills before they enter the clinical environment. In the present research, knowledge, performance, and attitudes toward sterilization/disinfection methods of extracted human teeth were evaluated in a selected group of Iranian dental students.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this descriptive cross-sectional study the subjects consisted of fourth-, fifth- and sixth-year dental students. Data were collected by questionnaires and analyzed by Fisher's exact test and Chi-squared test using SPSS 11.5.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this study, 100 dental students participated. The average knowledge score was 15.9 ± 4.8. Based on the opinion of 81 students sodium hypochlorite was selected as suitable material for sterilization and 78 students believed that oven sterilization is a good way for the purpose. The average performance score was 4.1 ± 0.8, with 3.9 ± 1.7 and 4.3 ± 1.1 for males and females, respectively, with no significant differences between the two sexes. The maximum and minimum attitude scores were 60 and 25, with an average score of 53.1 ± 5.2.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this study indicated that knowledge, performance and attitude of dental students in relation to sterilization/disinfection methods of extracted human teeth were good. However, weaknesses were observed in relation to teaching and materials suitable for sterilization.
authors.affiliation: Kerman Oral and Dental Diseases Research Center, Kerman, Iran ; Kerman Social Determinants on Oral Health Research Center, Kerman, Iran ; Department of Oral Medicine, Kerman, Iran.
authors.forename: Maryam Alsadat
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Hashemipour
authors.forename: Romina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mozafarinia
authors.forename: Azin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mirzadeh
authors.forename: Moien
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aramon
authors.forename: Sayed Amir Hossein Gandjalikhan
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Nassab
keywords: Attitude; dental student; extracted human teeth; knowledge; performance