By Andrea Cook
There has been talk for some time regarding an update to the Guidelines for Infection Control in Dental Health-Care Settings, 2003. The CDC will not be releasing new guidelines for infection control in dental settings. However, in March 2016, the CDC released their update; a document entitled "Summary of Infection Prevention Practices in Dental Settings: Basic Expectations for Safe Care and Companion Checklist." The entire document is available online at www.cdc.gov/oralhealth/infectioncontrol/guidelines.
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Topics:
sterilization,
Andrea Cook,
orthodontics,
CDC,
infection control,
patient care
by Andrea Cook
There has been talk for some time regarding an update to the Guidelines for Infection Control in Dental Health-Care Settings, 2003. CDC will not be releasing new guidelines for infection control in dental settings. However, CDC has developed a document entitled Summary of Infection Prevention Practices in Dental Settings Basic Expectations for Safe Care and Companion Checklist. This document summarizes existing recommendations to make them much easier to understand and use in all dental settings including our orthodontic practices. The summary focuses on standard precautions and the foundation for preventing transmission of infectious agents during patient care. The summary is intended to supplement the existing CDC recommendations, not replace them.
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Topics:
Andrea Cook,
CDC,
infection,
sterile
by Andrea L. Cook
Many of you will be attending the 115th annual session of the American Association of Orthodontists in San Francisco. After visiting the exhibitors, many of you will also bring home new products, technology, and other ideas aimed at improving your practice.
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Topics:
technology,
Andrea Cook,
Orthodontic,
AAO Tech Talk,
AAO
by Andrea L. Cook
Having a large number of patients in extended treatment can impact an orthodontic office in many ways. Typically the schedule will be clogged due to additional appointments needed. There will be additional stress in the clinic, and not to mention the PR in the community if your office is known as the office that treatment takes too long.
Here are some steps to help you confirm your number of patients in extended treatment is accurate and then how to address it:
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Topics:
Andrea Cook,
patient treatment,
efficiency
by Andrea Cook
Understanding and compliance with the CDC guidelines is a challenge for today’s busy practice. The statement below should remind us all of how important this is and the impact non-compliance can have:
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Topics:
orthodontic practice management,
sterilization,
Andrea Cook,
orthodontic education,
CDC compliance,
reminders
by Andrea Cook
With cold and flu season here and your patient flow increasing, I encourage doctors and all team members to review their personal protection and disinfection procedures to reduce cross contamination in the orthodontic office. Many clinical team members and treatment coordinators are not aware of the disinfection procedures that must happen in between patients and the proper way to accomplish this. Disinfection procedures are not limited to the clinical areas.
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Topics:
sterilization,
Andrea Cook,
Consultants,
tips,
cross contanimation
