TABLE 5.

Final proportional odds model of the association of dental and practice characteristics and knowledge of sterile water use with the total number of infection control recommendations implemented.

FACTORS	DEGREES OF FREEDOM	ODDS RATIO†	CONFIDENCE INTERVAL	F TEST
Score on Attitude index of Infection Control
Important/Somewhat important	2	Reference		49.5
Very important		1.06	(0.83–1.37)
Extremely important		2.05	(1.62–2.61)
Years in Current Practice
Fewer than 10		1.57	(1.31–1.90)
10–19	3	1.70	(1.45–1.99)	15.5
20–29		1.33	(1.14–1.56)
30 or more		Reference
Continuing Dental Education Credits
0		Reference
1–5	3	1.41	(1.17–1.68)	14.2
6–10		1.56	(1.30–1.88)
More than 10		1.87	(1.55–2.27)
No. of Correctly Identified Surgical Procedures Requiring the Use of Sterile Water
0–1	2	Reference		14.1
2–3		1.08	(0.94–1.24)
4		1.46	(1.26–1.69)
Practice Size (No. of Employees)
1–3		Reference
4–5	3	1.22	(1.04–1.42)	8.6
6–8		1.15	(0.97–1.34)
9 or more		1.61	(1.34–1.94)
Sources of Instruction Regarding the Guidelines
0		Reference
1	4	1.86	(1.39–2.48)	6.6
2		1.90	(1.42–2.52)
3		2.23	(1.64–3.03)
4–6		1.91	(1.37–2.65)
Census Division
New England		1.13	(0.86–1.50)
Middle Atlantic		0.65	(0.53–0.80)
East North Central		0.96	(0.79–1.17)
West North Central		0.81	(0.64–1.03)	5.7
South Atlantic	8	0.73	(0.60–0.89)
East South Central		0.51	(0.38–0.68)
West South Central		0.78	(0.60–1.00)
Mountain		0.91	(0.73–1.14)
Pacific		Reference

^*Having an infection control coordinator, using separate water systems and monitoring dental unit water quality, always documenting percutaneous injuries and using a safer scalpel or syringe. The recommendation implementation scores were grouped as 0 or 1, 2 and 3 or 4.

^†Odds ratios and F test values in bold are statistically significant.