One of the main responsibilities delegated to a dental assistant is the management of infection. Assistants are often responsible for disinfection of disinfection equipment, disinfection of equipment, cleaning and installation of laboratories before each patient arrives. This is not a small job and it is essential that each step be completed thoroughly to ensure the safety of both the patient and the staff.
It is very important that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Center for Disease Prevention and Prevention (CDC) have formulated guidelines for dental treatment. Although OSHA is primarily concerned with the health and safety of healthcare workers or employees, CDC makes recommendations on infection control after extensive research. The main concern of CDC is the health and protection of the entire population through precautionary measures and appropriate treatment.
Blood Borne pathogen standard is the most important law concerning the management of infection in dental care. Despite the reported medical history that the protocol set up by this law is very difficult to judge recently whether it is suffering from infectious diseases, it is important to know whether all patients are fatal diseases It is obliged to be treated like. By treating everyone in the same way and taking maximum precautions for each treatment, opportunities for spreading all diseases and infections are greatly reduced. These precautions are known as universal precautionary measures and standard precautions.
In addition, OSHA requires all dental personnel to provide hepatitis B vaccine for payment to all employees who wish to vaccinate. Personal protective equipment is also required by OSHA and must be supplied by a dentist or employer.
Personal protective equipment consists of overcoat, jacket, disposable gown, leather shoes, lab coat, mask, safety glasses and face shield, gloves and other scrubs. These protective layers are for protecting employees from body fluids of patients. It is recommended that employees change to commuting clothes before leaving the office, wash their clothes thoroughly, wash their hands, and prevent contaminated substances from going out of the office. This will prevent the transmission of disease from medical staff to the community.
Aerosol spray, or aerial propagation occurs most commonly when using high-speed handpieces in the mouth of a patient when saliva and bacteria spray and splash into the surrounding area of the examination room. Surface barriers such as light handle covers, syringe sleeves, plastic chair covers etc. are disposable for this reason and need to be exchanged between patients.
Other methods of communication from the patient to the patient may occur if the personal protection device is not changed between the patients or by not disinfecting the treatment room or by properly sterilizing the dental appliance being used. Gloves, masks and safety glasses are also intended to prevent the transmission of disease from medical staff to patients because they are close to each other during medical treatment and testing from medical personnel.
Disinfection and sterilization are two more important steps to keep the office and laboratory clean and keep patients safe. Dental assistants have to learn the proper way to disinfect hard surfaces and sterilize reusable dental tools to prevent disease transmission.
