Introduction:

HIV is considered one of the pandemics currently scourging humanity. In this respect, sexuality education is a responsibility of the whole society. In Cuba, risk perception and knowledge of medical science students about this condition have been poorly studied.

Objective:

To determine the risk perception and knowledge of dental students about HIV infection.

Methods:

A descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted from September to November 2019 at the University of Medical Sciences of Havana. The work was carried out with 157 students of the dental medicine major, who were applied the HIV/AIDS-65 scale, which consisted of 65 items and was divided into seven subscales. The data were processed and shown in tables, using descriptive statistics.

Results:

46.50 % of the students considered it false that HIV/AIDS was a life-threatening disease and 19.75 % believed that too much time, money and other resources were being invested in this disease in comparison with other diseases. 68.15 % of the students referred that sex was not as pleasurable when a condom was used, while 60.51 % of the respondents did not consider themselves the type of person who could contract the AIDS virus (susceptibility).

Conclusions:

Students have an adequate level of knowledge, despite misconceptions, negative attitudes and practices, which potentiate the risk of infection.

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