EVERY dental practice must have its own exposure control action plan, written specifically for minimizing exposure risk. As you have learned already, no matter the disease or its main route of transmission, one of the most important things that you could do to break the chain of infection would be to prevent the agent from passing the point of entry on a susceptible host. Take a look at the things that all dental practices must have in place:
- Every dental office must have standard precautions which are used for EVERY patient in order to prevent disease transmission.
- Every dental office must have engineering controls in terms of instruments and patient care items that eliminate or reduce workplace hazards, such as rubber dams, sharps containers, needle re-cappers, as well as the use of disposable instruments and supplies.
- Every dental office must have work practices in place, including the scoop needle recapping method, hand hygiene, isolation techniques, and suction, as well as others.
