Infection Control

For Your Protection

Dear Patient,

In this era of public concern and media coverage about the hazards of infectious diseases, such as hepatitis B and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), you should know that we use every possible infection-control procedure to eliminate disease transmission in our practice. In fact, this office has been exceeding the recent standards recommended by the American Dental Association and Centers for Disease Control for many years.

We would like to take this opportunity to explain the precautions we routinely provide for our patients. This commitment involves our adoption of federal govemment regulations designed to protect the health and safety of the dental office team. These procedures protect you, the patient, as well as us. We are pleased about this, and know you will be, too.

Universal Precautions

You may be surprised to learn the most frequently performed procedures in our office are not maintenance visits or even periodontal examinations. The most common procedures are designed to accomplish good infection control with every patient. This is called applying "universal precautions." Infection control measures are the same for every patient. These include: wearing gloves; changing gloves and washing hands between patients; using instruments and other items that are disposable and/or sterilized.

What We Do

Before you enter the treatment room, the dental unit and chair are cleaned and disinfected with antimicrobials beyond government standards. All dental instruments are first cleaned and are then sterilized with high heat. The Centers for Disease Control and the American Dental Association (ADA) approve both methods.

Health-care safety is everyone’s concern, both yours and ours. We take the responsibility of treating you and your family very seriously. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call before your next appointment, or talk with us during your next visit. We are very proud of our infection-control program and are happy to discuss these procedures with you.