Abstract
Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a critical issue for medical healthcare providers throughout the world. Dental practitioners mostly face the highest risk of infection by HBV as they regularly deal with blood and body fluids. This study aims to detect the knowledge, attitude, and practice levels of the dental personnel toward HBV infection in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on the dentists and dental hygienists working in Jeddah district, Saudi Arabia, from June to August 2020. Data were collected using a well-constructed online questionnaire. Filled questionnaires were reviewed for completeness and accuracy before the data were coded, processed, and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL) version 23.
Results: A total of 324 dentists, dental hygienists, and dental graduates were participated in this study. Hence, the whole population showed a good level of knowledge about HBV. The majority of the dental staff were vaccinated against HBV (95.1%). On the other hand, their attitude had slight differences among the different levels of education as hardly half of the dental hygienists (50.7%) knew about the different doses of the recombinant vaccine against HBV, whereas the rest of them already knew about the doses.
Conclusion: The study demonstrated desirable results about the dentists’ knowledge and attitude toward HBV infection but reported undesirable results regarding their practice with low infection control measure standards and incommensurate awareness about the concept of postexposure prophylaxis among the dental personnel in all their educational levels.

Key words: Hepatitis B virus, HPV, Infection control, Post Exposure Prophylaxis, Prevention.