Puncher-cutting Accidents in the College of Dentistry of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul

Abstract

The present work studied the puncher-cutting accidents occurred among students, professors and employees of the College of Dentistry of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. The dental instruments, the places affected, the condition of general health of the person involved in the puncher-cutting accidents and also the main circumstances were identified. The data analyzed were obtained from the Formulário de Acidente e Incidente de Serviço (FAIS) – a decree inside the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul that offers protection to the universitary community if its suffers some kind of accident during the working period – made by the college with the purpose of register the incidents. 25 puncher-cutting accidents were reported between 2004 and 2006, with an average of 8, 33 cases per year, in which they involved only academics of the institution. The moments of appointment of patients (32%), manipulation (28%) and cleanliness of dental instruments (16%) were the most mentioned. The most involved instruments were periodontal currettes (28%), injection dental needles (24%) and periodontal probes (20%). The most related subjects or departments were Periodontics (32%) and Geriatric Dentistry (16%) and the premises of the college (16%), such as cupboards. In 24% of the cases the individuals did not use any kind of Individual Protection Equipment (IPE), in two cases were reported the lack of orientation for medical appointment or nursing. From the 21 students involved in the accidents, one had not made the vaccine against the Hepatitis B and 5 of them reported the absence of vaccination against the Tetanus. From the 25 cases studied only three of the patients said that they have transmitted diseases or pathogens, like: the Hepatitis A and B and the HIV infection.