Percutaneous Injuries Amongst Dentists of Ahmedabad City: A Questionnaire Survey

Aims: To investigate amongst endodontists the incidence of percutaneous injuries, the circumstances associated with them, the therapeutic measures taken after the injuries and their compliance with infection control measures. Materials and Method: Information on percutaneous injuries and infection control practices were gathered from one hundred and forty endodontists through a questionnaire form. Data was analysed using independent samples t-test. The level of significance was set at p≤0.05. Results: Endodontic files were associated with 66% of the injuries and fingers were injured in 75% of the most recent cases. Medical assistance was sought in 36% of the most recent injuries. Endodontists, who always or usually practiced 4-handed endodontics (p≤0.007) as well as those not performing surgical endodontics (p≤0.007) reported significantly fewer injuries. In 91% of the participants, a complete hepatitis B virus vaccination was reported. Gloves, Double gloves, Long sleeve labcoat and puncture-resistant containers for disposal of sharp instruments were always used by 92.6%, 58%, 19% and 63.4% of the respondents respectively. Conclusion: The practice of four-handed endodontics was associated with reduced number of percutaneous injuries but the performance of surgical endodontics increased their incidence. Also the endodontists showed a high level of compliance with infection control measures

A Right to Understand Injustice: Epistemology and the “Right to the Truth” in International Human Rights Discourse

People\u27s “right to truth” or their “right to know” about their government\u27s human rights abuses is a growing consensus in human rights discourses and a fertile area of work in international and humanitarian law. In most discussions of this right to know the truth, it is commonly seen as requiring the state or international institutions to provide access to evidence of the violations. In this paper, I argue that such a right naturally has many epistemic aspects, and the tools of social epistemology can be helpful in elucidating what such a right entails. As a beginning for this project, I draw on those resources to argue that the right to know the truth is only meaningful if it includes a right to understand the abuses, and that such understanding can only come through the development of community epistemic capacities. Given this, I further argue that the state has a duty to support the development of these capacities, and that a critical place for beginning this process is in public schools