Analysis of sterilizer allocation and related factors in dental health-care settings in Yunnan Province, China: a cross-sectional study

Objective To investigate the status and related factors of sterilizers in dental health-care settings in Yunnan Province, with the aim of providing a theoretical basis for the health administrative department to formulate regional quality control programs and systems, proposing reasonable suggestions for optimizing the allocation of sterilizer resources in Yunnan's dental health-care settings, thereby improving resource utilization efficiency. Methods This cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2600 dental health-care settings in Yunnan Province in March 2020. Uni-variable linear regression, multi-variable linear regression, curve fitting and threshold effect analysis were used to understand the relationship between dental units and sterilizers. Results A total of 2600 dental health-care settings were included. The disinfection and sterilization work were mainly completed by the dental department in 1510(58.1%) institutions. 44(1.7%) institutions were not allocated sterilization equipment, and 1632 (62.8%) had only one sterilizer. The median allocation of sterilizers was 1.0. Uni-variable linear regression showed significant differences in covariates such as dental unit, dental handpiece, disinfection equipment, dentist, and dental assistant, which were more sensitive (p < 0.001) and statistically significant. The adjusted model was more stable in the multi-variable linear regression, and the differences in covariates between different settings were statistically significant. Curve fitting revealed an S-shaped curvilinear relationship between the number of dental units and sterilizers in oral healthcare settings. Conclusion The disinfection and sterilization work was mainly completed by the dental department in dental health-care settings in Yunnan Province. Sterilizer allocation increases with the number of dental units, but some institutions have insufficient allocation of sterilizer and manpower resources, resulting in certain risks of infection control. Thus, it is necessary to strengthen supervision, inspection and regional quality control work in infection control of dentistry.