Introduction: The prosthetic act must obey the rules of asepsis with a certain rigour for the decontamination of impressions to reduce the risk of cross-contamination. The objective of this study was to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of practitioners in the Dakar region (Senegal) regarding the decontamination of impressions.
Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive epidemiological survey of 150 dentists in the Dakar region.
Results: The sample consisted of 59,3% men and 40,7% women. Practitioners practising in private practice were 61,0% against 39% in public practice. The majority (83.3%) of dentists in the study had not received any continuing education on aseptic procedures in prosthetics and had a vague idea of the term "decontamination of impressions". Nevertheless, almost all practitioners (94,0%) systematically rinsed the impressions with water after disinsertion, 48.7% of practitioners decontaminated their impressions with a disinfectant. The most used decontamination methods were immersion at 70.3% followed by spraying at 17.1%. Sodium hypochlorite (63.9%) was the most used solution due to its effectiveness, simplicity of use and cost.
Conclusion: There is diversity in the attitude and knowledge of dentists. Disinfection protocols that are simple to implement and adapted to the impression materials should be put in place. Moreover, a rinsing as soon as the mouth is removed must be carried out, then a post-disinfection rinsing for a better dimensional stability of our impressions.

Dental Impression Materials Decontamination Prosthodontists Fixed Prosthesis Knowledge Practice Dentists Dakar