The Office of Dental Health (ODH) would like to provide some tools and resources on infection prevention and control. We know as dental professionals you are committed to ensuring the safety of your patients and your team. Just some gentle reminders on standard precautions that apply to all patient care.

• Hand Hygiene: Wash hands thoroughly before and after each patient contact and use alcohol-based hand rub when hands are not visibly soiled.
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Ensure appropriate PPE (gloves, mask, eyewear) is worn when necessary and properly dispose of it.
• Surface Cleaning: Clean and disinfect all surfaces that have patient contact between each patient.
• Instrument Sterilization: Follow proper sterilization protocols for all dental instruments.
• Waste Disposal: Dispose of sharps and other contaminated waste according to guidelines.
• Dental Water Line Quality: Treat regularly with disinfectants to meet EPA standards and follow equipment manufacturer recommendations for routine monitoring and testing of equipment.
  

For more information on infection prevention and control, please visit the following resources.

• Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC): Dental Infection Prevention and Control
• Association for Dental Safety (ADS): The Safest Dental Visit Toolkit
• Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC): Foundations:  Building the Safest Dental Visit
• Association for Dental Safety (ADS): If Saliva Were Red Video

Additionally, ODH is available to visit onsite at your location and conduct a free Infection Prevention and Control assessment with the goal of offering improvements to current IPC protocols. If your clinic is interested, please email our office at OralHealth@health.mo.gov or call 573-751-5874 to get the visit scheduled. For more IPC information, please visit oralhealth.mo.gov.