[Hygiene education in the Laureate Course of Dentistry and Dental Prosthetics: evaluation of student knowledge about the risk of infection in a dental practice environment].

Hygiene education for dental students is crucial in order to control and reduce the risk of infections in their future professional practices. The aim of this study was to evaluate the improvement in university students' knowledge of infectious disease prevention, dental instruments and environmental decontamination following the Course in Dental Hygiene and Prevention. 595 questionnaires were submitted to dental students at twelve Italian Universities; 335 were filled out before the Course began and 260 at the end of the same course. The students in both the PRE-course and at the POST-course evaluations demonstrated adequate knowledge regarding the transmission of infections in dental practices, knowledge improved following the Hygiene course.