Abstract
Introduction: Globally the HIV/AIDS consider being the most serious infection/ disease in the recent decades. The health care workers are considered as a high risk group for diseases transmitted through body fluids. The present study was conducted to evaluate the knowledge and attitude of the dental students and inters regarding dental management of HIV infected patients. Material and methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 722 (324 males, 398 females) dental students and interns at southern and central region of Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire comprised of 16 questions consists of three main domains. Chi-square test was executed to compare the descriptive data by using SPSS (version 20.0, IBM Corporation, USA) to assess the level of knowledge attitude and risk perception towards HIV positive patients. Results: The overall response rate was 91.6%. The overall knowledge and attitude of the participants was acknowledged as poor. The difference in knowledge between the academic levels was significant (p-value<0.05). Female shows more positive attitude and a good level of risk perception as compared to male participants (p-value<0.00). Gradual shift in risk perception was observed among the academic levels, and the difference was statistically significant (p-value<0.00). Conclusion: Over all this study showed a lack in the knowledge and attitude of dental students and interns about HIV infected patients. Extensive courses and training program should be implemented in the curriculum of dental collage to improve their knowledge and attitude.