Dental Precautions to Keep You Protected

Dentists work hard to make sure you are always protected when you go for your dental appointments. They are trained experts in infection prevention and control and there are guidelines that all dentists must follow for safe care.

Your dentist’s priority is safety and to protect everyone in the office from the spread of bacteria and illness. They have always followed very strict infection prevention and control standards and now being into year three of the pandemic, dentists have created extra safety measures for COVID-19 as well.

Some examples of the basic ways they manage infection risks during in-person dental care is through hand hygiene, sterilization and different protective equipment. Dentists must follow the IPAC standards of the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario (RCDSO). Here are some of the standard precautions taken for prevention that are vital for safe patient care:

1. Hand hygiene.

2. Use of personal protective equipment (PPE) e.g., gloves, masks, eyewear.

3. Respiratory hygiene/cough etiquette.

4. Sharps safety (engineering and work practice controls).

5. Safe injection practices (i.e., aseptic technique for parenteral medications).

6. Sterile instruments and devices.

7. Clean and disinfected environmental surfaces.

These are standard precautions, meaning that every patient is treated in the same way because patients don’t always know if they’re sick. When COVID-19 arrived, even more safety precautions were put in place. Some of the ways to best reduce virus transmission include wearing more PPE than normal and having air purifiers. Air purifiers with HEPA filters remove 99.9% of viruses from the air including COVID-19. This is especially comforting to know especially during the winter season with colds, flus and other viruses circulating. Here at Cornerstone, we have HEPA UV air filtration systems in each of our treatment rooms to enhance the air we breathe. 

Other ways we provide added protection is that all of our staff here still currently wear masks and our clinical team wears n95s, caps and gowns. Our hygienists will ask you to do a pre-procedural rinse before your appointment begins with a mouthwash containing hydrogen peroxide.

Knowing that your dental office makes it their priority to protect you by providing a clean and safe environment, should make you feel reassured when heading to your dental appointments.

 

Sources:

https://www.oda.ca/visiting-the-dentist/health-and-safety-at-the-dentist/

https://www.rcdso.org/en-ca/Complaints-and-Investigations/resources-for-patients/covid-19–novel-coronavirus-for-patients