“It doesn’t matter if you’re a pillar of the community, or how many volunteer hours you put in, poor infection control actions in the dental office can have a long-standing effect on your reputation and your livelihood.”
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“In 2014, a dentist voluntarily surrendered his license to his local dental board for ’practicing dentistry in an unsafe or unsanitary manner and by not following sterilization procedures,’” Daw says. “If an office has to defend itself in front of a licensing board with regards to poor infection control, the outcome could include license suspension or worse, revocation.” “The state dental board has regulations in place regarding infection prevention,” Daw adds. Related article: 5 things you should be doing NOW to improve infection control If, in fact, those regulations require compliance with CDC guidelines, noncompliance may result in an investigation and regulatory actions for those licensees and facilities,” Eklund says. “Dental health care providers should know their state-specific licensing board regulations. If bad word-of-mouth or a negative opinion doesn’t sound horrible enough, the state licensing board can add teeth to an infraction. When the patients stop coming, there goes the revenue stream.” The last thing you want is to make a name in the industry for being an unsafe dental office to work in or visit. And if doing the right thing isn’t reason enough, think of how this impacts your bottom line. The dental office can be destroyed via the power of broadcast and social media. “They could very well share their impressions of your business with friends and family, sometimes via social media, an online review or even the nightly news,” Daw says. In this day and age, word travels quickly. More from the author: Why the future looks bright for 3D printing
If unsafe practices are occurring, some employees and patients may not feel comfortable bringing this to the attention of management directly.”
“In dentistry, this could mean providing quality care in a safe environment. “We all want to be known for doing the right thing,” says Karen Daw, an infection control consultant and former clinic health and safety director for The Ohio State University College of Dentistry. Worst of all, the practice may be blindsided by the occurrence. Positive opinions help your practice, but, obviously, negative opinions can do quite a bit of damage. Other considerations include personnel wearing appropriate PPE and performing hand hygiene to prevent exposure to contamination,” Eklund says. “Not following the manufacturer’s directions and instructions for use, including reprocessing, can cause damage to devices such as handpieces. Proper practices involve formalized procedures, consistent with the guidelines and recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as following the directions and instructions of use for all products and devices. “It is not only tied to noncompliance, but it can also be accidental injuries as well.” They could have an injury if they’re not using sharps safely, for instance, and having to go through post-exposure management,” says Kathy Eklund, RDH, director of occupational health and safety at The Forsyth Institute. Read more: 6 overlooked areas in your office that can improve infection control That could occur either through not following established protocols or a simple accident. The first, most obvious impact is that someone could get injured.
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