Awareness of Mercury Toxicity among Dental Students- A Survey Based Study

AIM: The aim of this research is to analyse the knowledge of dental students regarding the harmful effects of mercury. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A questionnaire was designed with various questions about the harmful effects of mercury and was distributed among 100 students in various dental colleges in Chennai. Out of 100 students who responded to the survey 36 were male and 64 were female (fig.1) and 27 were CRRI’s, 26 were final year students and 47 were students from third year (fig.2). The students were questioned about the correct protocol for storage of mercury and disposal methods of scrap amalgam. They were also asked about the precautions to be taken while doing amalgam restorations and the correct ratio for mercury and alloy powder necessary to form amalgam. The results were tabulated and analysed.