Dental Personal Protection

The use of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), like plastic aprons, gloves footwear when handling contaminated items, including items contaminated with body fluids, and disposing of waste,

Infection control is a central concept to every practice of health care providers. Its main objective is to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases from both patients and health personnel (Martin et al., 2010). In dental clinic, infection control is a continuous concern for its professionals. They have to contact patients routinely and be exposed to their blood, saliva, dental plaque and pus that may contain infectious pathogens. It is important for the dental professionals to treat these fluids as if they are infectious and special precautions must be taken to handle them. In this essay, I will highlight the scope of infection control practices in dental clinics and the ways through which infectious microorganisms are transmitted

Before I started the assessment I used alcohol gel to decontaminate my hand. NICE (2006) states that hand must be decontaminated before each and every episode of direct patient care. It is important to decontaminate my hand to prevent cross-infection of micro-organisms from staff to patient, for example Hospital Acquired Infection. I realised that I am going to have contact with body fluid and blood therefore I put on a pair of latex gloves and disposable plastic apron. Wandsworth Teaching Primary Care Trust May (2008) states that ‘Personal Protective Equipment is designed to protect the healthcare worker from coming into contact with potentially infectious body fluids. It may also protect the patient from the healthcare workers own microbial flora’.

The employee has to wear PPE at all times when carrying out any personal care to help prevent any cross infection and to help prevent any.

All areas that are being used for healthcare activities should be cleaned with either disinfectant wipes each morning and in between patients/procedures. Equipment should be all new out of the packets and clean. For things more major such as vasectomy’s, minor surgery or family planning clinics, areas should be cleaned everywhere with a disinfectant fluid and also with wipes, gloves should always be worn as well as other PPE such as aprons and hats. All equipment should be new from the packet and only touched by the person who is using

infection control a dirty, unkempt uniform is a harbor for unwanted bacteria. Along with uniform proper hand hygiene must always be performed before and after patient care. A professional appearance will display an

worker wearing an apron and gloves for procedures will reduce the spread of infection by preventing infection passing on from

While shadowing my fellow upper cohorts during the clinic I had made many observations. Unfortunately I was only able to shadow one clinic, although I observed a lot. Marie was the first student that I was shadowing, she was the CA for the day. We started by stocking the cabinets with the necessities. Marie and I then took the dental tools out of the machines that cleaned, sterilized, and dried them. I was shown that there are two sides in the lab. What I mean by this is that the left side is a dirty side which you should always wear gloves so that you are always protected from the bacteria and germs that the tools carry. Everything on this side has to be handled carefully and you must always wash and sanitize your hands when you are through. The right side is the clean side where the tools and dental accessories are kept so that they stay clean and sterile. Next I was with Jennifer, although she had no patients that day due to a

The typical working areas for dental assistants are very clean, organized, and well lit. They must wear gloves, masks, eyewear, and protective clothing so that they are not exposed to any kind of infectious diseases. Assistants must also follow safety guidelines while operating x-ray machines and equipment. Dental assistants are very important to the dental team because they work so closely with the dentist so that they can provide quick and accurate service to the patient. Assistants will typically work 30-40 hours a week, and most offices are not open to the public on Fridays. A few dental assistants must work half-days on Fridays to organize storage areas and to check inventory on the materials used in the office. Some

The patient was keen to get her oral hygiene up to a good standard and prevent any

Different gloves should be used for personal care and food preparation to avoid cross contamination. Gloves and aprons should be disposed of at the end of each call. Hands should be washed on entering and leaving each call and after smoking and eating. Hair should be tied back if it is mid length or long. Tissues should be used if coughing or sneezing and disposed of and then hands should be washed.

A single face mask should be used by all personnel when entering an operating room with sterile instrument that is open and displayed for surgical use. Mask should also be worn during any surgical procedure where there will be an incision (break in the skin integratory) dusk putting the patient at risk for infection. Surgical mask or face shield should be worn when there is an anticipated spill, splash or spray of bodily fluid or irrigation fluid during a procedure. This is worn to protect healthcare personnel from cross contamination from the

In a dental office, the dentist and his assistant may be in contact with potentially infectious agents during treatment of a patient or disinfecting the patient room and cleaning instruments. They can also be exposed to dust, fumes, radiation or hazardous chemicals.

Infection control is very important in the health care profession. It’s very important that we as a dental assistant make sure we follow the guidelines to protect the patient, the community and ourselves. Health care professionals, who do not practice proper infection control, can expose multiple bacteria and diseases to others. The main objective is to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases from both patients and health personnel. Today, infection control is a continuous concern for its professionals. We have to contact patients routinely and be exposed to their blood, saliva, dental plaque and pus that may contain infectious pathogens. It is important for the dental professionals to treat these fluids as if they are infectious and take special precautions when handling them. In this essay, I will go in detail of infection control practices in dental clinics and how infectious microorganisms are transmitted in the dental clinic. Also, I will talk about some infection control guidelines that are important in dental clinics and how to protect the dental professional environment and dental professions.

All body fluids are contaminated with opportunist and pathogenic bacteria. These facts give an opportunity the denture to become a source of cross-infection. This study suggests a new alternative method for disinfection of dentures by using photodynamic therapy as prevention of cross-contamination between patient, dentist and dental technician. Disinfection of dentures is also a main part of the therapy of denture stomatitis. Contaminated prostheses being in use should also be disinfected prior to being worked on in the dental laboratory. The prosthesis should be scrubbed with a brush using an anti-microbial soap to remove debris. If there is calculus adherent to the prosthesis, it should be placed in a sealed plastic bag or beaker filled with ultrasonic cleaning solution or calculus remover, and placed in the ultrasonic cleaner for the required time (9). The ultrasonic unit should be covered to reduce splashes and spatter, followed by cleaning in a detergent and then appropriate disinfection. After rinsing and drying, it is safe to continue performing laboratory work on the