by OSAP, the Organization for Safety, Asepsis and Prevention, has developed a number of tools to educate patients and dental staff about patient safety in dentistry. They can be found and downloaded at
http://www.osap.org/?page=IC_in_the_news.
Patient resources
The website includes the following tools designed for patients:
- Questions for your dentist: Five questions patients should ask about infection control. (Examples: How do you know that the sterilizer is working properly? Do you disinfect the surfaces in the operatory between patients?)
- Travel resources: a traveler’s guide to safe dentistry.
- Overview of dental office infection control practices: a variety of infection control resources – including online videos – from the American Dental Association.
- Five things to do in the dentist’s office: an article for patients from CNN Health. (Here are the five: Watch the gloves, check out the office, ask for autoclave validation, check the instruments, speak up.)
Dental team resources
The OSAP toolkit includes the following resources for the dental team:
- Reassuring patients: Seven key talking points. How to discuss infection prevention with your patients.
- OSAP infection control workbook. “CDC Guidelines: From Policy to Practice by OSAP,” a 170-page workbook with practical information to help healthcare professionals put recommendations into practice.
- OSAP interactive guide to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. Complimentary interactive guide, also available in Spanish.
- OSAP checklist for incorporating CDC guidelines. OSAP converted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “Guidelines for Infection Control in Dental Health-Care Settings – 2003” into a checklist for dental practices.
- CDC Guidelines and Recommendations: Oral health resources, including information on safe injection practices from the nation’s leading public health agency.
- CDC “Recommended Infection Control Practices for Dentistry.” Infection control resources, including fact sheets, FAQs, glossary and publications.
- American Dental Association “Statement on Infection Control in Dentistry,” issued March 29, 2013.
- ADA “Policy Statement on Bloodborne Pathogens, Infection Control and the Practice of Dentistry.”
- Strategies to reassure patients. Tips on reassuring patients of the dental practice’s safety procedures.
To visit the OSAP toolkit, go to http://www.osap.org/?page=IC_in_the_news.
