Page 14 - Compendium Chapters for Course 1 (IC, DPA, OSHA)

CALIFORNIA DENTAL BOARD REGULATIONS FOR INFECTION CONTROL
The State Board examination for the RDA contains questions specific to the regulations (adopted 8/2011) for infection control. Many assistants who have been trained “on-the-job” may not have received a copy of the regulations or were not trained to the regulations; therefore, this chapter will spend time going through each regulatory requirement, explain the intent of the requirement, and standard operating procedures in each area so that assistants preparing for the examination are doing so with the knowledge of how the regulations are intended to be used in the office setting and not what may actually be happening in the office setting.
Each regulation is identified in italics below and the numbers indicate where in the regulations to find each section. A copy of the full text of the regulations is available at the end of this chapter. The regulations begin with definitions of specific terms in infection control, so that is where we will begin:
REGULATIONS
All language contained from this point that is presented in italics is reprinted directly from the Dental Board’s Infection Control Regulations.
The regulatory language begins with definitions:
(1) "Standard precautions" are a group of infection prevention practices that apply to all
patients, regardless of suspected or confirmed infection status, in any setting in which healthcare is delivered. These include hand hygiene, use of gloves, gown, mask, eye protection, or face shield, depending on the anticipated exposure, and safe handling of sharps. Standard precautions shall be used for care of all patients regardless of their diagnoses or personal infectious status.
The term “universal precautions” has been used for years nationally to refer to the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Standard. Universal precautions are based on the concept that all human blood and body fluids, including saliva in dental procedures, are to be treated as if known to be infected with HIV, Hepatitis or other bloodborne diseases. The concept is based on the fact that patients are not always honest about their health history, may not disclose certain information, or simply may not know their specific health status if an undiagnosed disease should be present.
In recent years, the CDC expanded the concept and changed the term to Standard Precautions, and incorporated all diseases, not just those transmitted by blood. Saliva has always been considered a potentially infectious material in dental procedures; the list of potentially
Intro Page - 14
Introductory Chapter: Dental Practice Act, Infection Control and Cal-OSHA
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