Context: Dental professionals are at increased risk of acquiring viral hepatitis (VH) infections as they are
predisposed to occupational exposure to infectious fluids while performing various dental processes. The risk can
be minimized by creating awareness about preventive measures. Thus training of early-age dental professionals
on management of viral hepatitis is needed.
Aims: The study aims at assessing the effectiveness of one day training on viral hepatitis among dental
professionals.
Settings and Design: Study setting was Project PRAKASH, Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, New Delhi and
Design was Pre-post design.
Methods and Material: A one-day training program titled ‘Viral Hepatitis in Dentistry’ was conducted among
early-age dental professionals. The participants were provided with one-day training on VH with each session
ranging from 45–60 minutes. An online link for Pre-post knowledge assessment consisting ten questions was
shared with all registered participants before and after training. One mark was allotted for each correct response.
Statistical analysis used: The data was analysed using IBM-SPSS version-21. Independent samples t-test was
used to assess the mean knowledge score across various demographic factors and the paired t-test was used to
assess the improvement in knowledge post training. The statistical significance was considered at 0.05.
Results: A total of 253 dental professionals with mean age of 24.9+5.6 were trained across six states of India.
The pre-test score and post score were 4.7+2.1 and 7.2+1.8 respectively with maximum score being 10. The mean
improvement in knowledge score was found to be statistically significant.
Conclusions: Overall, study observed significant improvement of knowledge among dental professionals and
this training on VH can help in increasing the knowledge about necessary preventive measures to prevent VH
among dental professionals.