Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Introduction: Corneal diseases constitute a significant cause of visual impairment and blindness in the developing world. The number of corneal transplants done is far less than the actual requirement in India. This is largely due to the inadequate number of corneas collected. Well-informed nursing students could be expected to influence eye donation rates. Aims: To assess the awareness and perception of 475 BDS and MDS dentists towards eye donation in Tricity and its adjoining areas, India. Settings and Design: Cross-sectional study design. Materials and Methods: A pretested, semi-structured questionnaire. Statistical Analysis Used: Data was entered and analyzed on Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS), software version 16.0; Inc., Chicago, IL, USA. Results: Majority of the dental students 320 (67.3%) were not even aware of any contact place for eye donation. Most of the study subjects 353 (74.2%) knew that there’s an eye shortage in India and the ideal time for donating eyes is within 6 hours after death 306 (64.4%).  However, majority of the study subjects 274 (57.7%) agree that donated eyes can be used for corneal grafting but still many of them 217 (45.6%) disagree that eyes can be donated after death. Conclusion: This study revealed that dental students were well aware of eye donations and most of them were inclined to sign-up for eye donation. The perceived reasons for not donating eyes need to be considered while creating awareness about eye donation in the community. The dental students could be actively involved as volunteers in eye donation campaigns and they can act as counselors for eye donors. They can also contribute by participating in creating awareness and motivating people to become eye donors.
Key words: dental students, corneal diseases, blindness, eye donation

Corresponding Author: Sonal Bhatia, MDS Final year Student, Public Health Dentistry, Swami Devi Dyal Hospital and Dental College, Panchkula, Haryana, India

This article may be cited as: Bhatia S, Gupta N. Donating an eye: Its awareness and perception among students of dental colleges in tricity and its adjoining areas, India. J Adv Med Dent Scie Res 2017;5(1):39-45.