Page 15 - Compendium Chapters for Course 1 (IC, DPA, OSHA)

infectious materials now includes:
• Blood
• All body fluids, including saliva in dental procedures, secretions, and excretions regardless of whether they contain blood (visible blood or not visible blood)
• Mucous membranes (oral tissues)
• Non-intact skin (cracked lips, ripped cuticles)
Aseptic techniques are required to eliminate the spread of infectious diseases in the dental operatory. Asepsis in the operatory requires physical tasks and an understanding of standard precautions, which mean that all patients must be thought of as potentially infectious. Therefore, the infection control procedures used for patients who are known to harbor infectious diseases must be the same procedures applied universally for all patients seeking treatment. Proper application of universal precautions is not just a checklist of things to do but also is an attitude generated in the dental professional’s mind.
California regulations require that Standard Precautions be used for all patients, regardless of health history, and the dental assistant is to consider all patients infectious as they prepare, handle, clean and disinfect/sterilize dental instruments and equipment.
INSTRUMENT CLASSIFICATIONS
A major concern of most patients is the passage of diseases from previous patients through the use of contaminated instruments. According to the classification of hospital items proposed by Spaulding, the three levels for preparation of instruments for reuse include the following:
• Critical instruments
• Semi-critical instruments
• Non-critical instruments
(2) "Critical items" confer a high risk for infection if they are contaminated with any microorganism. These include all instruments, devices, and other items used to penetrate soft tissue or bone.
(3) "Semi-critical items" are instruments, devices and other items that are not used to penetrate soft tissue or bone, but contact oral mucous membranes, non-intact skin or other potentially infectious materials (OPIM).
(4) "Non-critical items" are instruments, devices, equipment, and surfaces that come in contact with soil, debris, saliva, blood, OPIM and intact skin, but not oral mucous membranes.
Intro Page - 15
Introductory Chapter: Dental Practice Act, Infection Control and Cal-OSHA
The California RDAEF: A Compendium for Licensure Success © The Foundation for Allied Dental Education, Inc. 2016 Copyright protected. All rights reserved