الفهرس 
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Abstract
Understanding the level of knowledge, attitudes and practice of infection control measures among dentists is important because the information can be used to: indicate the level of infection control, initiate continuing education to oral health care workers, and call upon the need for developing the national policy on infection control in dentistry. The present study aimed to assess and compare the level of knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding infection control measures among dentists practicing in private and public dental clinics in Benghazi, Libya. Methods: a cross-sectional survey was conducted on 538 Libyan dentists selected randomly from twenty one public and twenty seven private clinics in Benghazi, Libya. A self-administered questionnaire containing three parts (knowledge, attitude, and practice) regarding infection control measures was distributed to the participants. The obtained data were collected and analyzed. Results: forty two percent (42.0%) of the respondents were female; (58.0%) were males, (30.4%) were specialists, (69.6%) were general dentists. The mean age of the respondents was 35±7.9 years. Only (49.6%) of the dentists were immunized against hepatitis B, with (76.2%) of them completed the three doses of vaccination. The overall prevalence of needle stick or sharps injuries was (50.7%) and (72.4%) of public and private dentists respectively. The main cause of injury was needle recapping .The overall percentage of knowledge, attitude, and practice towards infection control measures were (79.6%) (99.4%) and (78.5%) respectively for dentists working in public clinics, and (81.4%) (99.3%) and (80.4%) for dentists from private clinics. Conclusion: Almost half of the dentists were vaccinated against hepatitis B virus, among those only (76.2%) completed the three doses. Needle recapping was the most common cause of needle stick injury. Dentists in both public and private sectors showed good knowledge, positive attitude and compliance to good practice of infection control measures.